Hoarding Treasures
by StardragonXX
Summary: She was just your ordinary mage with a tyrannical father and a dead mother, living her life on the edge with her guild. One mission drastically changes her world, forming a rare bond with a dragon that has long since been unheard of. Now, she has a target on her back, her dragon's enemies after her head. Who knows what will happen as time passes?
1. Demonic Ruins

**Demonic Ruins**

Lucy ducked under a flying body, grinning as she heard swords whistling through the air. She pulled her bowstring taut, aiming her star tipped arrow at the underbelly of a huge, shadowy, serpentine monster, yelling for the man that stood under it, ice blade poised to strike, to duck.

He dropped instantly, and she let her arrow fly, the celestial object finding a home in the monster's underbelly. It froze, about to close it's jaws around her friend, then fell backwards, smoke rising from where her arrow had found true as well as it's gaping maw.

"Nice shot!" The man grinned at her, jogging over. He ruffled her long golden hair, earning a pout and a smack to his shoulder.

"Shush, Iceman, lets just watch the magic happen." She smirked as she pointed towards the red-headed wonder, the fairy barely visible as she hacked and slashed through the mass of shadow creatures that surrounded her, not a single one able to touch her, let alone get near her.

Erza Scarlet was a force of nature, both in and out of battle. Lucy felt her friend go stiff beside her as Erza relieved twelve shadow creatures of their heads, the bodies dropping a second later, the last shadows having fallen. Gray's jaw was dropped, and Lucy took great pleasure in snapping it closed, making the poor mage bite his tongue, earning her a glare.

Her honey coloured eyes widened as she noticed a shadow creature stand, lunging for Erza, whose back was turned. She had her bow ready in an instant, raised and a millisecond from being let loose. A dagger of ice beat her to it, slicing through the air just over the fairy's shoulder and landing in the creature's head, making a satisfying thud sound as it fell limp, just an inch from Erza.

Erza glanced behind her, not the least bit fazed from having the blade come so close, then shrugged. Lucy and Gray met her halfway, grins on their faces, although Erza's was a bit more reserved.

"Good job with the snake you two. We should keep going though, we're only a day's journey from our destination." She sheathed the long sword after brushing the black ichor off, eyes scanning over their area, the predatory glint in them easily telling the mages that she was still thirsting for a fight. They definitely would attempt to avoid anything that would irritate the fairy queen.

She had a tendency to throw people through walls.

Gray was the first one to move, gesturing for them to follow as his mind went to the map that had long since been engraved in his mind. Out of the three of them, he knew the way best, having been there every year as a child, training in the ruins for a month before his teacher moved them.

When his hand moved to pull at the buckle of his belt, Lucy gave him a hard smack across the head, earning her a yelp and a thankful glance. Even after living independently for fourteen years, he still had a habit of stripping himself without thought. A certain water spirit wasn't apposed to it, and in fact encouraged it, but not many Fairytail women held the same attitude.

"Juvia isn't here, so you can at least keep your pants on." She teased. Erza gave a light chuckle while Gray huffed, lengthening his already long strides until the blonde had to jog to keep up with him and Erza, who easily matched him.

Gods, she hated being the shortest of them.

~~~.~~~

The bright sky bled red then black as the day progressed to night. They were only an hour's walk from their destination, the tall spires of the ruins the only sign that they were close. Lucy shivered, cool, autumn wind washing over her as Erza hacked through a few pesky imps that had been following them for the past three hours.

One clung tightly to Gray, and neither female was willing to remove it, the image presented amusing them as the ice mage flailed his leg in an attempt to dislodge the creature.

"Don't be so _cruel_ , it loves you Gray!" Lucy threw a bright smile at her male friend, who just scowled before his entire leg froze over, the ice, and the imp trapped in it, shattering with his next step.

"The feeling wasn't mutual..." was all that was said before they lapsed into silence, the only sound being that of Erza's armour clashing against itself. They moved quicker as time progressed, darting through shadows as they made way for the decrepit, dark grey walls that surrounded the gigantic fallen city.

Lucy shivered when Erza halted them, standing just barely in the tree line, sharp, mahogany eyes darting around the clear expanse that separated the forest from the city. Giving the okay, they darted across to the city, careful to keep from making a noise.

They moved with unsure steps as they delved deep into the city's ruins, Erza leading the way, Lucy guarding their sides, while Gray took up the back. He seemed to drift off at times, most likely being pulled at by his memories, yanking himself back whenever he stumbled.

The surrounding buildings could barely be called that, most just piles of crumbling old stone. Only a handful, maybe two or three, still had a wall or two standing, a haunting reminder that this had once been a land filled with people, before it had been torn to shreds by the king who had fostered its growth into one of the most powerful kingdom's at the time.

Legend said that the king was a monstrous dragon that ruled over everything in a 800 mile radius. It was a kingdom built on war, the most powerful in this realm. The stories said that its people were demons and mages, the magic in their blood so strong that anyone within 50 miles could feel it. It was said that the king, E.N.D, was born of the Fire Dragon king and the Queen of Death, royal blood strengthening him alongside the dragon and demon blood that coursed through him. He'd quickly established his throne with his enforcers, building up an entire kingdom at the age of seventeen.

They believed that such powerful magic and genes had driven the young king mad, in the night, he'd completely destroyed his legacy with one fell swoop, not even his enforcers had survived. After that, some say he killed himself, others said that he went to his birth realm, but most believed he was but a ghost story, told to children that seemed too interested in fairytales.

"Lucy! We need some light over here!" Gray's voice snapped her from her train of thought, and she looked up, realizing that he and Erza were standing in front of a relatively unharmed building, the only damage being a small piece of the wall crumbling, and the stone turned black by flames. Erza had a sword raised, determination on her face as she waited for Lucy.

The blonde clasped her hands together, a bright ball of yellowish light hovering above her open palm when she brought them away from each other. She handed the ball to Gray, who threw it into the building, light exploding out of it as it hit the floor, illuminating the whole building.

It looked to be a library, old tomes, filled with knowledge, sitting on wooden shelves, some weaken from age and sagging, others snapped in half, their contents splayed on the floor. Lucy followed behind her friends as they entered, breaking away when Erza gave the all clear.

Immediately, Lucy dashed to an over-stacked shelf of books, most bound by leather, although there were a few with wooden covers. She picked one of the better looking ones, dusting off the cover to read the title.

-Dragon's and the Dragon-Blooded: A full collection of the dragon race-

Her eyes widened a fraction. She'd never thought that a whole race could have something such as this, there just had to be too many dragons, even if this were from four centuries ago. Letting curiosity get to her, Lucy opened the book, eyes going to the table of contents. Names and families were sorted by their original element and alphabetically, and their page numbers.

' _Fire dragon..._ ' she hummed to herself, searching out the element. Finding it, she flipped to the first page, nearly dropping the old book in surprise when a realistic looking picture of a crimson dragon rippled on the page, amber eyes almost following her.

-Sedah. The first fire dragon. Born from the fire goddess. Lived for 3033 years before he was slayed in battle. Father to Fire Dragon King Igneel. Father to Lava Dragoness Magmalra. Father to Typhoon Dragon Thrall. Father to Tectonic Dragoness Garnite. Mated to Water Dragoness Ceana.-

The image on the page shifted, changing to show six dragons, four cubs and two adults, soaring in the sky, again, almost lifelike.

Lucy turned the page, this time prepared for the moving image, eyes going to the fire dragon who looked so similar to Sedah, the only difference being that his reptilian eyes were a shade of startling blue mixed with a calm green.

-Igneel. The second fire dragon. Born from the fire dragon Sedah and the water dragon Ceana. Lived to be 5024 years before he died of sickness. Father to the Dark Fire Dragon Natsu Dragneel(see E.N.D). Father to the Yellow Fire Dragon Zancrow. Father to the Green Fire Dragoness Cosmos. Mated to the Demon Queen of Death Cynthia. Mated to the Bright Sky Dragoness Delara.-

So, E.N.D had siblings... she'd never once heard of them in legends. She was about to flip the next page, wanting to see the Dragon King that had once governed this city, when Ezra called her name.

"Lucy, would you be able to barricade the door? I'd ask Gray to do it, but his magic will cool the room to an uncomfortable point. We should be able to stay here for the night." The red haired fairy was walking over to her, eyes finding the book in the blonde's hands.

For some reason, she slammed it closed, not wanting anyone but herself to read it. Erza raised a brow but didn't respond. Wanting to apologize for her odd actions, she opened her mouth, only to close it and turn to the door, book tucked under her arm. A hand went the keys tucked safely in her key pouch, plucking the one that she knew she'd need off without even a glance.

Aries star dress wrapped around her in an instant, her normal clothes disappearing into the spirit realm. Holding a palm to the door, she summoned an explosion of pink wool, the fluffy material blocking them in, and adding a bit of insulation to the cool building. She grinned at her work, then made three small beds out of the wool for them to sleep on.

"Thanks Lu!" Gray grinned lopsidedly at her as he face planted on one of the beds, sinking into the soft, comforting wool. She snickered at his childish behaviour while Erza sighed, muttering about childish men that were more irresponsible than an imp. Lucy shrugged when the fairy's mahogany eyes turned on her, dismissing her star dress and making her way to a bed, falling onto it gracefully, book opening for her to read.

She turned back to Igneel's page, scanning over it one last time before going to the page she'd been looking for.

This time, she was startled. It wasn't a dragon that peered back at her, but a man, boy, teenager, whatever you wanted to call him. He didn't look human though. Large, ivory horns grew from by his elf-like ears, reaching past the back of his head. Black swirls covered his skin, only his face was free of them. His chest, bare of a shirt, was a hard plane of muscle, black ink running along his tanned skin. A thin, whiplike tail was curled around his calf, large, black, bat like wings folded neatly at his back. Startling emerald eyes stared back at her, and she could see flecks of gold in them, the gold slowly changing to blue and back. He had a sharp jaw and thin lips, a grin, almost predatory, on his face, baring sharp teeth that made her shiver.

The thing that stood out to her the most though was the shock of salmon pink hair on top of his head, wild looking and unkempt.

What type of dragon had pink hair? Wasn't that a quality that only nymphs had?

-E.N.D. Natsu Dragneel. The first Dark Fire Dragon. Born of the Fire Dragon King Igneel, and the Demon Queen of Death Cynthia. Currently 415 years old. Currently unmated.-

Lucy blinked at the short description, eyes falling back to the picture of E.N.D. It had changed, this time showing a dragon with bright, golden green eyes and scales the colour of rubies. He was captivating, much more than his father and grandfather. Where their bodies were stockier, thicker, powerful looking, he was much more slender. He was still broad chested, and muscle rippled under his scales. He was built, if she were to compare him to an animal, like a cross between a leopard and a cheetah.

She closed the book when the image shifted again, sleep suddenly calling her. Arms feeling heavy, she let her arms drop, book landing on her belly. Her eyes drifted to Erza, who seemed to be just as tired. Something didn't feel right.

There was a light gust of wind swirling through the library, which made no sense. The door was blocked completely, and there wasn't another opening to the outside. Panic set into her as she tried to fight the sleep away, reaching to her keys in an attempt to summon a spirit.

"Erza... G-Gray... wake up guys!" She barely got the words out, a yawn forcing her to pause. She could hear soft snores from her friends, they'd fallen asleep. Her eyelids felt like they were weighed down by lead, body filled with cotton. Unable to stay awake a moment longer, she let her eyes slip closed, praying to the gods that whatever was happening to them wouldn't last long.

~~~.~~~

Wendy watched with narrowed eyes as the three intruders fell asleep, cutting off the wind currents that she used to disperse the sleep spell.

Pushing the shelf she was hiding behind open, she crept towards them, surveying their faces. They seemed relatively normal, and they lacked the sour or bitter scent most ill-hearted people had. Her eyes were drawn to the blonde woman, who seemed restless as she slept. It was unheard of for a human, mage or any other species to resist a sky dragon's sleep spell.

Unless...

Eyes widening, she summoned a strong current of wind, sweeping up the blonde and lifting her into the air. The blonde let out a whine, and Wendy hurried towards the hidden entrance, sweeping away any trace of their being here. She didn't notice the book that was clutched to the blonde's bosom, or the low rumble that emanated from it.

~~~.~~~

Lucy wasn't sure how long she'd been out, but when she woke, she was not where she fell asleep. Panic welled up in her chest as she shot up, hand going to her keys. The fact that they didn't respond had her heart skipping a beat.

She looked around the room she was in, taking in the cool, dry air and the bland, smooth grey walls. Most likely, she was underground, almost able to tell that she was far from the surface. There was a tunnel, yawning mouth just big enough for a fully grown adult to walk through with about a foot of space on their sides and6 two feet of space above their head.

Cautiously, Lucy crept towards the exit, keeping to the shadows. Stepping into the tunnel, she flinched as she set her foot on something smooth, booted foot skidding beneath her. Lifting her foot and crouching she picked the item up, rolling it between her fingers.

It was cool to the touch, and when she put it in the light, her eyes widened as she realized it was a small gold coin, an intricate design on its face.

Pocketing it, wanting to take a closer look at it later, Lucy continued on her way. A few turns left her with absolutely no light, and she did the motions for her light spell, frowning when no orb of yellow light came into existence. Repeating the motion with less patience three more times, she let out a frustrated groan when she failed, letting her hands fall to her sides.

"There's probably an anti-magic spell here..." she mumbled to herself as she resumed walking. It was getting warmer as she continued on her way, never reaching an uncomfortable level though. If she weren't in an unknown place, she'd consider just falling asleep, the heat not too unlike a blanket.

There was a sharp turn ahead of her, a soft light on the wall, showing a fast approaching exit. Hope of escaping urged her to move quicker, Lucy practically ran around the corner, eyes widening with shock as she came up to a ledge, barely able to stop herself from falling into the monstrous cavern ahead of her.

It was full of glittering gold, smaller piles of trinkets against the walls. In the middle was a huge pile of golden items, half as tall as the, probably 130 ft, cavern. Torches decorated the walls, shining light into the warm cave.

A loud crash had her turning her head towards the far right wall, heart stopping as she laid eyes on the sources of the noise.

Two dragons were grappling with each other, one a polished silver colour with cruel looking horns and a feral glint in his red eyes. The other was slightly smaller, ruby red scales covering him and sharp, dark red horns.

She had no idea who the silvery coloured dragon was, but it was clear who the red one was.

E.N.D, the king of Alegria and one of the most powerful creatures in the realms, was _alive_.

And was crashing into the stone below her, the tremors tripping her, Lucy falling into the cave and barely keeping herself from splattering on the floor, clinging to the end of the dark fire dragon's horn.

"Looks like we've got company." The silver scaled dragon rumbled, plucking her roughly from E.N.D's horn and dropping her unceremoniously in the red dragon's palm. Golden green eyes peered down at her, his long muzzle close enough that she could feel warm air coming off of him with every breath. His lips quicker up, teeth bared in a slightly feral grin, and Lucy swore her heart stopped, frozen in fear that she would be eaten.

"You're a weirdo." The gods probably hated her.

Yea, they definitely hated her.

 **(First chapter is done! I honestly am so satisfied with this, it's just a lot better than it was before! Leave reviews, tell me what you like and what you didn't! If you decide to offer a few ideas, that's fine too, but most likely, I'll already have it, or i will consider it but not use it. If i get a REALLY good one, I'll try to incorporate it into the story, but no promises! Also, I'm probably going to look in to getting a beta reader too, just to help avoid any mistakes.**

 **See ya next time!)**


	2. There be Dragons

_If you didn't see it, Chapter one is up, so go give that a read to get all caught up!_

* * *

 **There be Dragons**

She probably looked like a tasty little treat to them, small and squishy compared to their giant bodies made of rippling muscle and thick scales.

The silvery dragon watched her with a predatory glint in his eyes as she scooted back on E.N.D's palm, eyes darting between the pair. The dark fire dragon didn't seem as terrifying, just his gaze making the suffocating fear in her more bearable, despite him being an apex predator. Just glancing at him should've made her heart stop, terror taking grip of her.

"It looks like a bunny, don' it?" The red eyed dragon rumbled, voice slightly harsh on her ears. He leaned closer to her, and Lucy let out a terrified cry, scrambling backwards and inadvertently falling from E.N.D's palm. She couldn't help but let out a yelp as the ground rushed to meet her, to high up to survive the fall. Maybe this was how she died, falling from a dragon's grasp and spattering onto a floor covered in gold coins. Talons wrapped around her free falling form just before she hit the ground, a relieved sigh coming from one of the two.

"You didn't even _move_ to grab her Buckethead! Wendy would've killed ya if you let her die!" Lucy was settled back in E.N.D's palm, this time cupping his hands...paws? And keeping her from another nose dive into the next life.

"Yea yea, I knew you'd catch bunny girl, you've got too much emotion for a king..." E.N.D glared at his friend, and Lucy was sure that if she weren't here, they would've attacked each other.

"Y'know, _this_ is why the high guard didn't take you." The barely restrained rage could be seen sparking in the silver scaled dragons eyes, and he growled, the sound low and striking fear in her, before huffing out a cloud of shrapnel that clattered to the ground. The male spun and stormed away, broad tail knocking down a pile of gold.

She watched until the silver dragon disappeared, momentarily forgetting that she was still trapped in E.N.D's grasp. A fake cough had her glancing over her shoulder, eyes widening as she took in the dragon's appearance, as well as the look in his eyes. She felt like he was considering eating her or asking her who she was. Probably the second one, if this 'Wendy' wanted her alive.

His mouth opened then snapped shut, and he shook his massive head as if to clear it. An awkward feeling silence fell over them as they stared at each other, completely out of their elements. It was a few long heartbeats later when E.N.D's head snapped up to face where his friend had vanished, Lucy looking up just in time to see a much smaller, fluffy dragon streak into the hoard.

The small dragon seemed to exude curiosity as it peered over E.N.D's cupped hands to look at Lucy. The blonde took note of the feathered dragon's coppery coloured eyes as the dragon reached out with a single, white talon. Lucy blinked at it, then looked at the dragon, getting to her feet and wrapping her hands around its tip, giving a firm shake that seemed to shock the dragon.

"Where exactly am i? Who are you all? Are- " She blabbered out, barely catching herself when she nearly asked something that's answer would probably make her heart stop. The dragon blinked down at her before answering, voice light, feminine, and young.

"I can't tell you why you're here, I'm sorry about that. My name's Wendy, I'm a sky dragon. Natsu is the one holding you, but he prefers being called E.N.D, and Gajeel is the metal dragon, i think he's leaving though, so you might not see him for abit..." Wendy's sentence tapered off, pulling her talon away from Lucy to set it on the ground. The blonde nodded, then peered over the edge of E.N.D's talons, judging the distance to the floor.

It was pretty far, so she just spun, quickly scrambling up his arm then slipping down his side, startling both him and Wendy. They only moved in reaction when her feet hit the ground a few seconds later, launching into a run. No way was she sticking around if they couldn't tell her why she was there.

"H- _Hey_! Get back here!" The female dragon cried, the sound of their talons clacking on the floor a sure sign of them following. Glancing over her shoulder as she ran, she let out a yelp as one of Wendy's white talons tried to grab her by her waist, slicing through her side when she missed. Blood dripped from the wound, and Lucy pressed a hand to it, other hand going to her keys.

They all warmed to her touch, Aquarius' scalding hot, but she couldn't draw her magic out. Skidding around the giant pile she of gold, her eyes darted towards the yawning gap in the cavern, a soft light coming from the other side. If she could reach it, she'd be free. Forcing her legs to pump harder, she reached the opening, throwing herself outside.

"Shit!" Lucy's body dropped when she realized where she was, ice suddenly all around her, body sliding across the slippery surface. Just infront of her, the ice covered ground dropped off in what appeared to be a steep drop. Frantically trying to stop herself, her hands and feet tried to find purchase, grasping a piece of rock jutting out from the ground. Her body flew off the edge a millisecond later, leaving her dangling by a hand, panic setting in and freezing her completely.

The wind blew viciously at her, grip slipping slightly and a whimper leaving her.

There was nothing she could really do, she couldn't summon her spirits. Maybe she would just hang around until her arm couldn't hold her anymore.

Screwing her eyes closed, Lucy just tried to block out the world, but that proved to be difficult when something grabbed her by her collar, pulling her up slightly before wrapping around under her arms, easily pulling her up. She cracked one eye open once her body was placed safely on the ground, opening the other and looking up.

E.N.D was standing in front of her, concern etched on his face, no longer a hulking dragon, but a man- demon, she corrected. His arms, corded with lean, powerful muscle, were folded against his chest as he took a step away. Her eyes trailed over his form, comparing him to the image she'd seen in the book before.

He was definitely the same as in the image, but his eyes seemed to be more vivid, body so well sculpted that she thought only a statue could have a body like that. He didn't look older than 24. The swirls of black markings on him almost seemed to shift, and a black tail swung anxiously behind him. A fake cough had her eyes snapping back up, and that was when she realized that there was a young girl just behind him.

The girl, long blue-violet hair swinging behind her, gave a relieved sigh, taking quick but careful strides towards Lucy, who was slowly standing.

"Are you alright?" The girl's hands hovered just a few inches from Lucy, almost unsure of what to do before moving to the bleeding wound, a glowing green magic coming from the girl's palms, the skin stitching together. Lucy watched with slight amazement, realizing that this small girl was a healer. The winds, which were blowing violently a moment before, calmed down, something less powerful than a summer breeze.

Lucy assumed that this was Wendy's smaller form.

Finally, the dragon turned girl grasped Lucy by her biceps, pulling the mage to her feet with more strength than Lucy assumed she had. Wendy lead her, grip slackening slightly, back towards E.N.D, and the blonde noticed how the ice below their feet was nonexistent, the rocky surface free of water, ice and snow.

"I wouldn't suggest doing that again, we might now be able to save you next time, and you don't have any magic right now." The blue haired dragon hummed as E.N.D lead the way back inside, their eyes constantly flickering back to Lucy, as if she were a rebellious child that would run again given the opportunity.

Considering how they were probably centuries older than her, she assumed that was almost exactly what they thought. E.N.D didn't stop until they were inside the hoard again, leading them to the far back and pushing through strings of dark grey beads that blended all too well with the cavern walls. They stepped into a beautiful cavern, much smaller, most likely meant for human sized dragons, than the main cavern. There was a kitchen, out in the open for anyone to watch someone mill around in it.

Currently, they stood in the middle of a circle of plush looking sofas and couches, tables placed around in chaotic organization. To her left was a hallway, lit by torches, a handful of doors on each side of the hall.

She was tugged to fall on one of the couches, startling her out of her examination, eyes going to Wendy and E.N.D, both standing infront of her.

"I'm sorry about taking you away from your friends, but we can't return you _yet_. Hopefully, if we're able to figure out what we need to in a few weeks at most... E.N.D had to put up the anti-magic spells for your and our safety, but once you stop trying to escape, and promise to be non-aggressive, he'll lift it. I'm going to have to run a few tes-" Lucy stopped the bluenette at that, eyes narrowed slightly slightly her brain put together the pieces.

"Look, I'm not your freaking lab rat kid, so you aren't running tests. And you can't keep me here, my friends will worry, and i _have_ a tendency to throw myself off ledges to escape." She could still remember her father's face when she'd hurtled off the highest point of the castle towers, Loke catching her before the cobbled stone ground could.

Wendy looked shocked by her words, and seemed to be debating whether to tie up the seemingly insane blonde or leave her be. E.N.D just watched her, mirth sparkling in his eyes as he rested his chin on his fist, forcibly keeping himself from laughing. Lucy decided she liked him more, at least he wasn't trying to preform tests on her, yet. Wendy didn't seem all to bad though, but Lucy would be wary of the little dragon for a while.

"Look, Weirdo, we'll make sure you're comfortable while you're here, and we'll try not to overstep any boundaries, but Wendy _does_ need to run her tests, just to confirm some stuff..." E.N.D sighed, letting out a puff of dark red flames, hands moving to cup the back of his neck. His startlingly green eyes pretty much begged her to agree, and she caved to his puppy-dog eyes, nodding her head. He gave a warm sharp-toothed grin that made her want to smile as well at the pure-ness of it. He definitely didn't seem like the type to raze an entire kingdom, but you never know.

"Fine... but you have to tell me exactly why I'm here." Her tone was a warning of punishment to come if they didn't respond, and both dragons shivered slightly in fear. She was as terrifying as an angry alpha queen, if they were to compare her to something. Even alphas were, at the least, wary of an angry alpha queen.

Wendy rubbed her hands together, something recognizable as a nervous trait, copper coloured eyes scanning Lucy's face before she spoke.

"We think you're a dragon's _mate_ , or..." the sky dragon paused, hands dropping to her sides." You could be the first child of a Demi-god..."

Well, that was just dandy.

* * *

"LUCY!" Erza called out, sharp eyes scanning the ruins of the fallen city, hunting for a flash of gold, anything. They'd woken up from what she assumed was a spell about two hours ago, only to find their dear celestial mage was nowhere to be seen, not a single trace left behind. Gray was currently checking inside as many buildings as possible, a trail of ice left in his wake as he moved, a clear trail to mark where he'd been.

It was extremely worrisome that they hadn't found Lucy yet, all that was left was the crumbling ruins of the castle. Erza had witnessed a few chunks of the once solid castle fall already, something that did not serve to calm her in the slightest.

About to get down from her perch on a roof, a bird, with bright red feathers, shot past her, wingtip grazing her cheek softly and drawing her attention. It flew silently, other than a few high pitched chirps, circling once before turning and soaring in the direction of the vast mountain range just three miles from the ruins, guarding them from the cold that crawled up from the southern borders. She could just barely see the tops of the supersized trees that served as a border between Fiore and Seven.

E.N.D had definitely built his empire in an amazing spot, protected from the elements and close to the border, close enough that trade with Seven was extremely easy.

It was still amazing that he had destroyed such a powerful place, especially since he was the one who fostered its growth.

Drawing out of her thoughts, Erza looked towards the castle, narrowing her eyes at the blackened structure.

They had to find Lucy, and if she wasn't here, that could mean only one thing.

The king of Fiore had forcefully taken back his heir, something that would reward him an attack, by Fairytail, the strongest dark guild in Fiore.

* * *

he groaned as he flipped through the book opened before him, red eyes scanning the old, worn pages of his spell book. He didn't think anything of the black page he'd flipped, only giving it the briefest of glances before going to the next. The male let out a startled noise when the book bucked upwards, the black page flipping back into his view.

Surprised, he let his eyes roam the page before falling on the ancient text written along the sides. In the middle of the page sat the mark of The Fallen, glowing a menacing silver colour. His palm flattened over the mark, curiosity getting the best of him. Maybe he could bring The Fallen from Limbo and use them. His eyes began to glow as he recited the enchantment, throwing in his own little binding spell. Beneath his palm, the mark throbbed, once, twice, before it stung at his flesh. He lifted his hand away just as twelve small balls of black light jumped from the mark, spreading all around him as they took on corporeal forms. The one standing right infront of him took the form of a fairy, long scarlet hair tied in two thick braids, mahogany eyes almost seeming to cut through him like butter.

"You released us from the book, that was kind of you, demon, but it's time for us to go. Enjoy the afterlife." She sneered down at him, sharp, black tail jabbing towards his heart, attempting to run him through. He watched with great pleasure as her tail tip disintegrated as it got a few millimeters from his chest, the fallen fairy crying out in agony, her allies wide eyed as they watched her stagger then fall, gingerly holding her maimed tail.

"Now now, none of that. Aren't fairies supposed to be smart? I am not afraid of any of you fools. I am in need of loyal followers. Free me from my chains, and i will free you all of yours." He grinned darkly, raising his wrists for everyone to see, black metal cuffs gleaming against pale skin." Bring me the heart of the first son of Igneel, and we all shall be free."

All twelve fairies stared at him, some with looks of shock, other with bloodthirst clear in their eyes. After a tense moment, a male fairy, with ice blue hair, pale faced, and eyes as red as blood, stepped forwards, bowing low to the ground infront of the chained demon. Slowly the others followed, until not one stood against him.

"We are at your service my lord..." the ice blue haired fairy spoke, not raising himself from his position. The demon grinned, darkness pulsing inside of him, greedy for his freedom.

" _Zeref_ , I am Lord Zeref."

* * *

 **(BAM! Way to freakin' late with this update, but its finally here. I'm sorry about how short it is, i seriously couldn't figure out how to get more in there... intro of the villains, and this time, since he is literally** ** _the_** **villain, Zeref'll have a huge part in the story, much bigger than what was planned before.**

 **Fairytail is an official dark guild, as it was in the first version of Hoarding Treasures too, so that'll be fun. Also, poor Lucy, she's not too happy about her current predicament, and she's virtually defenseless... I'm definitely going to have a bit of fun by letting the dragons torment her for abit. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up by sunday, but no promises since I'm literally terrible at keeping on task...**

 **See you guys soon!)**


	3. Play with Fire

**Play With Fire**

E.N.D curled up on top of the largest pile in his hoard, peering down at his guest with his golden green eyes.

It had been three days since she'd been brought here, and the blonde seemed to easily acclimate to being in his hoard, almost like a missing piece in their little system.

The first day, after full introductions, she started sorting everything under the claims that it was a complete mess. E.N.D and Gajeel, who had returned during Lucy's organization period, were wary of it, not too happy about someone touching their stuff, while Wendy had helped the blonde with a grin on her face.

When the pair was done, both males had to admit, the hoard looked much better, and it was easier to find things in it. Also, it turned out that Gajeel had about thirty more iron and silver items than he thought he had.

E.N.D also found that she was extremely fun to tease and play around with. Whenever he got even the slightest bit bored, he ended up going to his smaller form and tickling at her sides, which usually had both dying of laughter, Lucy trying and failing to slap him away at the same time. Sometimes, he would end up taunting her into challenges that left her flustered, or with Gajeel raging around. Other times, he snuck into her room to pester her throughout the night.

Currently, she was admiring the trinkets that they had collected over the years, fingers curling around a slim golden chain with a dragon pendant. He could easily remember the day he'd received it, a gift passed down in his line from the fire goddess, its use unknown to its holder until they were ready to learn of it.

It had taken Igneel five centuries to find its purpose, and the fire dragon king refused to tell any of what that was.

Still focused on Lucy, E.N.D didn't notice Gajeel climbing up to his side, letting out a startled yelp when the iron dragon's heavy tail dropped on his head, barely keeping himself from rolling off his perch. His head swung around, glaring at his friend, who just gave him a sharp toothed grin, shrinking down to his human form. The dark fire dragon followed the action, crossing his arms over his chest, wings twitching on his back.

"You were starring Salamander. Y'know, she won't be here forever, so there's no point to getting hung up over bunnygirl." Gajeel huffed out, brushing a wild lock of black hair from his eyes. The pinkette narrowed his eyes.

"I am not hung up over Luce, Ironbreath! I'm just curious, this _is_ the first time someone's visited here!" He growled back, a pout pulling at his lips, making him look like a petulant demon child. The iron dragon laughed at that, shaking his head at his king.

"As if, it's clear as day Salamander, if you don't fess up to that, then you're more of an idiot than i thought. If you really like her, then shape up and stake a claim, cuz if she's not a dragon's mate, you'll never see her again."

"I-i do not like her like that Gajeel, she's been here for three fucking days!" He didn't dwell on the fact that he very much enjoyed seeing her golden hair fanned out around her heart shaped face as she slept, or how he was so interested in the complexity of her mind, or how every single one of her movements had his eyes following her. No, because then Gajeel would taunt and tease him even more.

He was probably still abit sore from when he'd been superglued to his bed the other day.

E.N.D still wasn't too sure about whether the weird blonde would glue him to his hoard. She threatened to, multiple times.

"Sure, keep telling yourself that. The squirt needs me to go with her to get some shit from the God Trees." The pinkette raised a brow, surprised that Wendy requested Gajeel to come along when she usually went off on her own. The God Trees were the giant trees that served as a barrier to protect Fiore, grown from the tears of the five gods at the end of the ancient war between Mythics, nearly fifteen thousand years ago. The most powerful medicinal herbs grew there, rich with the sky God's healing touch and the earth goddess' pureness.

"Alright, just try not to bring any of them down, remember what happened last time." He warned, huffing in annoyance when Gajeel just waved him off, turning and sliding gracefully from the pile.

"Squirt, lets go!" Wendy seemed to materialize out of nowhere, bouncing over to Gajeel with a bright grin on her face, then following him outside. E.N.D could hear the male's wingbeats a minute later, the sound sharp against his ears.

"Where are they going?" He jumped at the voice directly beside him, eyes flying to Lucy, who was watching him with amusement on her face. "Did I scare the big bad dragon?" She teased, poking lightly at his side.

"No, nothing scares me! They're going to the God Trees, they should be back relatively soon..." his sentence tapered off when he felt arms wrap around his waist from the back, head swivelling around to look at the blonde with wide eyes. She smiled up at him innocently, as if she weren't randomly hugging him. He didn't notice how the scarf wrapped around his waist was slowly coming undone, at least until Lucy's smile turned smug, and she danced away, waving above her head.

"Finders keepers." She turned and slid down the gold pile, yelling it back at him as he stood, frozen by surprise, taking a moment to understand what happened.

"Lucy!"

* * *

They were crouched behind an ice covered boulder, waiting out the sudden frigid winds. Gray surprisingly had needed to wear clothes, the mountains they were searching through too cold for even him.

Neither of them would ever admit it, but Lucy could very well be dead, no one, save for fire and ice spirits, could survive out in these environments. About to peer over the rock, she paused when she spotted something silver step into view from the top of the tallest mountain, large enough that she could easily see it from nearly half a mile away. It pitched over the side of the mountain, and she thought she saw a smaller blur of white, just barely big enough to be noticed. Reaching back, she grasped Gray by the collar, pulling him up to look over with her.

"E-Erza, what are those things?" He didn't even complain about being so abruptly moved, too focused on the two fast moving creatures. They watched as the pair snapped wings open, soaring right over the mage and fairy queen's heads.

"Dragons... i thought they'd all gone back to their realm..." she pulled her attention away from the pair of beasts, eyes hardening as they turned to where the dragons had come from. "We're getting Lucy back, and i think i know where she is."

~~~.~~~

"No, Natsu, no!" Lucy back-pedalled away from the dragon, eyes flickering between his face and his twitching fingers. He grinned playfully, eyes solely focused on her. He didn't care in the slightest about retrieving his scarf, she'd wrapped it snuggly around her neck, and he wasn't afraid to admit that his inner dragon purred, satisfied at the sight.

He took a small step forwards, wiggling his fingers and snickering when she let out a quiet whine. She looked like cornered prey, which in a sense, she was, her back hitting a wall as he trapped her body with his own. Moving in one fluid motion, he brought her to the ground, the pads of his fingers running along her sides, pulling gasps and laughter from the blonde.

He quite enjoyed her laugh, it wasn't reserved or fake, something pure and unrestrained, causing laughter to bubble up in his own throat. Her hands swatted wildly at him, smacking away at his arms and chest, trying to free herself.

"Say, you're the best dragon ever!" He grinned from ontop of her, effectively dodging a slap to the face. She could barely keep a serious face, tears of laughter collecting along her eyes as she squirmed.

"No wa-way Na-tsu!" He shrugged, letting up his assault for a moment and giving a false sense of ease to the blonde, fingers dancing along her sides again a moment later. She couldn't hold up for long after that, long, thin fingers wrapping around his biceps, squeezing hard. "Fine! You're the best dragon ever!"

E.N.D rolled off of her a second later, kneeling beside her with a grin on his face. Lucy fought to regain her breath, shifting onto her belly and glaring halfheartedly at the dragon demon.

"You're mean Natsu." She breathed out. He felt a shiver run through him at the sound of his voice rolling off of her tongue, light and airy in a way that had his mind going down certain... paths. Shaking the thoughts away, he gave her a playful grin, running a hand through his pink locks, careful to avoid touching his horns.

He jumped when a soft touch was felt against his cheek, tracing over a swirling black mark tenderly, eyes dropping to the blonde's face. She seemed to almost be stuck in a trance, drawing away when she neared the corner of his lips.

"S-sorry... I was just wondering, what's it like to be a hybrid?" E.N.D was silent for a moment, surprised by the unexpected question, shifting so that he sat cross legged.

"Well, it sucks sometimes, I've got all of a dragon's abilities and all, then I've got all the demons. They end up mixing for most things, so that just complicates things for me, and everyone around me. Dragons have always had certain measures to prevent things going wrong, but they don't work for me... Metalhead understands, kind of, my frustration, so I've got a bit of backup there, but it still sucks at times.

It's not all bad though, I'm almost twice as strong as a dragon, and, i do have to say, i _am_ rather good looking." He wiggled his eyebrows at that, Lucy rolling her eyes at him and snickering.

"Are you sure about that Natsu?" She teased, cocking an eyebrow at him. E.N.D chuckled, nodding his head then ruffling his hair.

"Definitely, before Alegria fell, i was famous among my people." He noticed how her eyes widened ever so slightly at the mention of his fallen city, any sign of humour leaving her as a serious look took over her face.

"What happened to Alegria? Is it... true that you burnt your own legacy to the ground Natsu?" Her tone was hesitant, but left no room for lies or deception. His own mood darkened at her indirect accusations. Why did he think she wouldn't believe old legends constantly told by those who believed they knew the truth. He only hoped that she would understand what he was about to say.

"Alegria was my greatest victory, and my greatest flaw. It was supposed to be a safe haven, for those who had no where to go. I rule the dragons and the demons, but the factions will still hold enough power to exile. I protected my peoples no matter who they were, or what they did... I was apparently some prodigy, but I was just well raised. One day, a dragoness with a soul full of evil intent attacked, attempting to kill everyone. My right hand and I, we fought her off, two dragons who had just become adults, against a dragoness who was a millennia old.

Her element, darkness, swallowed my friend, tainted his soul, and it didn't take even two days before he ran rampant, no longer a dragon of holy light, but one of chaos... my people called him Acnologia, after the mad half dragon, half Titan that had reigned chaos during the Mythic Civil War. He spun stories of me being corrupted by the darkness dragoness, then killed my people and blamed me. I had to hide them, sent them to their realms with orders to stay in the royal houses until it was safe. I fought my friend, but when I was presented the opportunity, I couldn't kill him... so I sent him to the night realm... my siblings followed him, I still don't know why, but I couldn't bring them back.

I closed the gates to the night realm, locked them in. I couldn't salvage what I had fought to defend though... the dragons began to war amongst themselves, vying for a spot in the royal houses, and the demons... they turned their backs on what I had taught them, what my mother had taught us. They thrive on destruction and greed, I could not bring either to a world full of humans and mages..." He dabbed lightly at his eyes, cursing himself under his breath. A hand fell softly on his shoulder, but he shrugged her off, abruptly climbing to his feet.

"Natsu-"

"No, I don't want apologies or pity Lucy... and my name is E.N.D..." walls that he had once though had fallen rose up instantly, grief and self-hatred filling him, and he wished he could take back the cold edge from his voice. He was a failure, his kingdom turned to ash in his palms and he couldn't stop it.

Looking back at Lucy, he had to pull his eyes away, he knew just looking at the tears pearling along her lashes, and the apologetic light in her eyes would only make him want to forgive himself. He didn't deserve forgiveness.

Eyes set on the floor ahead of his feet, he walked away, away from the blonde who he was drawn to, and away from a past he was too hurt by to rise above.

Oh, how wonderful of a king was he?

* * *

Wendy held her supply carefully, tucked against her chest as they glided towards their 'home'. Deep down, she hoped that Lucy would be able to help E.N.D, even if it wasn't much. The blonde mage had already unknowingly started helping him, the fire dragon was happier already, he smiled and laughed more, something that she and Gajeel had taken keen note of.

The iron dragon was almost sure she was E.N.D's mate, but until they put the pair through a test that could easily deliver E.N.D's wrath upon them, they could not confirm it. An older dragon would probably be able to tell instantly, but none of them were even over 500 years old, so they'd never met a mated pair other than their parents.

Her hind legs took her full weight as she landed, glancing over to Gajeel, only to realize that the male was swooping towards a spot of bright red against the white face of their mountain. A flash of light came from where the red spot was, and Gajeel let out a startled cry when something screeched against his metal scales, the noise loud and shiver-inducing. Wendy tucked her supplies away in the mouth of the tunnel, then winged to her friend's side, pausing when she realized that the little spot was actually a woman with a long sword in her hands.

A black haired man clung to the mountain beside her, looking rather uncomfortable in his situation. Ice crystals seemed to form in the air around him, hovering for a moment before dropping. She'd seen these two before.

"Gajeel wait!" The metal scaled dragon huffed, pulling his talons away from, what she assumed to be, mages. "I think I know what they're doing here..." she reached out, grabbing the pair and flying them up, ignoring their cries of 'what the hell dragon?'

Setting down and placing them infront of her, she pushed them forwards with her nose, scooping up her supplies as they passed them. She rolled her eyes when she heard Gajeel moping behind her, probably having wanted to fight them.

"Could you watch them, I'm gonna go get E.N.D." Wendy started off the moment Gajeel nodded, herding the confused pair over to a corner, blocking their view of the hoard with his body. Shrinking to her human form, the bluenette swept into the smaller cavern that held their common room and other things. Lucy was lying on a sofa, asleep but with a stressed look on her face.

Giving the blonde a worried glance, she continued towards E.N.D's room, huffing when she heard faint, angry growls through the door. Knocking once before entering, she flinched slightly when she came face to face with E.N.D, who looked about ready to rip someone's head off then cry about it afterwards.

"E.N.D? Is everything alright?" He blinked, a look of exhaustion covering his face for a moment as he dragged a hand down it, pinching at the bridge of his nose.

"I'm fine, yea... What do you need Wends?" The bluenette's hands grasped at his arm, pulling him behind her as she lead the way.

"There's two mages here, I saw them when i first found Lucy. I think they might be here for her..." she glanced back at him, noticing how his attention wasn't on her, but the blonde. He moved past her, dropping to a crouch beside the blonde, fingers brushing a strand of hair from her face. Wendy felt her heart melt slightly at the innocent action, watching as he picked her up, arms curling around her gently, as if she'd shatter in his grasp. He quickly whisked her away to her room, returning to walk beside Wendy a moment later.

"Do you think they're a threat?" His voice held a sharp note to it, glancing down at her.

"Not really... they're just mages, so if they do try anything, it'll be easy to shut them down. The male seems.. _lackadaisical_ , the female seems to be more interesting." She shrugged at the last word, eyes flying to where she'd left Gajeel and their 'guests'. E.N.D's gaze fell on them at the same time, and the way he seemed to stiffen slightly had the young dragoness concerned.

"Gajeel, step away from them." He was taking faster strides, leaving her to jog behind him. The titanic sized iron dragon immediately followed orders, rolling his eyes as he retreated back a few steps. E.N.D stopped just a metre away, eyes narrowed at the pair. The redhead returned his glare, the look being enough to make her shiver. "Titania, a pleasure to meet you. And you brought a demon slayer... what brings you here, you should know it's rude to intrude on a dragon's territory." His words sounded friendly when you didn't pay attention, anger and fire dripping into his voice.

Wendy and Gajeel's eyes flew open at the word 'Titania'. There was only one being who could carry such a moniker. The queen of the fairies stood before them, and looked about ready to claw someone's eyes out.

"I apologize for the intrusion, but we believe that a companion of ours is being held here against their will. Return her to us, dragon, or else I _will_ bring this whole mountain down atop your heads." E.N.D raised a brow at the threat, taking a step further into the fairy's space.

"Do try to act rational, you would not like to feel my fire." He sneered, his eyes flickering over her shoulder to the demon slayer. "Your demon slayer isn't even well trained, I doubt he could even put a scratch on me."

"I'll put more than a scratch on you, you overgrown lizard!" The male growled out, the temperature dropping with every word. He tried to take a step forwards, only for a sword to flash into Titania's hand, holding him back with the flat of the blade.

"Who are you to challenge the queen of the fairies?" E.N.D grinned at the question, letting his eyes slip closed for a second before opening them again. His right eye was pitch black, with a slitted red pupil, and the left was like a cat's, the white barely visible, eclipsed by the golden green iris, a slitted black pupil glaring at the fairy. The Titania took a startled step back, sword swinging to hover between the two.

"Who are _you_ , to challenge the king of dragons and demons alike?" He felt his scales ripple into sight on parts of his left side, flames licking at his entire back and arms. Honestly, he felt like he looked a bit like something you'd see at an oddities exhibit, but he didn't really care, arms crossing over his chest, dark red clashing with black. Titania's eyes widened, and it seemed that her mind short circuited for a moment, while her companion narrowed his eyes slightly, most likely wary of E.N.D's demon half.

Eventually, the red-haired fairy, bowed her head, dispelling her sword and clasping her hands submissively infront of her. The actions had his more vain side gloating happily, enjoying how the fairy queen had so easily bent.

"King E.N.D... no offence to you, but you are supposed to be dead." She straightened up, although her eyes did not meet his. Atleast she knew how to respect her superior. E.N.D shrugged, looking to be the definition of nonchalant, giving them a bored look. He wasn't in the mood for this.

"Dragons are not ones to simply give up and die, and, you should be smart enough to know that demons have a habit of resurrecting themselves. Your friend, Lucy is here, and despite taking up temporary residence with us ' _savages_ ' she is unharmed and safe. I cannot say the same for you and your devil slayer." Titania levelled their gazes at the thinly veiled threat, a scowl building up on her face.

"While you may be powerful, do not underestimate me _or_ Gray. We will not leave unless Lucy is here." Gajeel stepped forward at that, still in his dragon form, his talons clicking and scraping loudly at the floor.

"Leave fairy, Salamander here might be playin' nice, but that doesn't mean i will. All that metal you're wearin looks real tasty." He snarled, lips twisting in a grin at the frown on the fairy queen's face.

"Gajeel! I swear, if you try to eat my friend's stuff, i will do something you do not like!" Everyone's gazes went to the blonde suddenly standing not too far behind E.N.D, hands on her hips, glaring at all five of them. Her eyes widened a second later and she let out a little squeak, turning away." Gray, put your clothes on!"

Wendy, being the curious fledgling dragon she was, looked at the devil slayer, then bolted to hide behind Gajeel, face a bright shade of red.

"You idiot!" Came from Titania, followed from a loud thump noise and a cry of pain.

* * *

An hour later, after everything was cleared up, Erza and Gray were preparing to leave. Lucy gave both a warm smile, a firm hug going to the red headed beauty.

"Could I speak with you for a moment?" The fairy whispered, a hand gently grasping the blonde's wrist. Lucy glanced over her shoulder to the dragons, who seemed absorbed in their conversation before nodding. Erza tugged her to the opposite corner of the room, a serious expression covering her face." Please be careful, i know that they seem to be kind, but you can never be sure... i worry that they'll use you for something, and I don't want you in a situation similar to what you had with _him_..."

"Erza, don't worry, i can hold my own if anything happens, even though i know nothing will. They have no reason to hurt me, Nat-E.N.D doesn't see me as a guest, it's almost like a little family that i get to have a part in." The redhead noticed the blonde's happiness when she said family. Erza couldn't help but to feel for the poor blonde who had been through so much in her relatively short life. Giving Lucy a simple smile, she then sighed and nodded, wrapping her arms around her friend.

"You get two weeks before we come back for you. We'll be in the general area if you need anything." Lucy grinned at that.

"As if I'd need help, i _am_ Lucy Heartfilia after all."

* * *

She scowled as the frigid air bit at her exposed skin. Yet again, she questioned why she was sent for this stupid mission. someone less important, like Larcade or Serena could have done this instead of her.

She was gifted by the time spirit Chronos, she doubted even Eileen could properly handle her.

Bright blue eyes narrowed on the cliff not too far above her, and she swung herself into a snow drift as two figures stepped to the cliff's edge, snow completely hiding her from view. Curious, she watched as the one to the left, a man with a muscular build and jet black hair, created an ice slide in less than a second. The redhead who looked very familiar, jumped down first, allowing the magic creation to carry her down, her companion following.

"Good... I'd _hate_ for someone to notice me." She laughed at her own words, a feral grin twisting her lips as her eyes flashed.

The wind completely cut out, and snow flakes were frozen in middair, the world becoming eerily silent.

Pulling herself up the rest of the way, she brushed snow off of her body and armour. Flicking her short blonde hair over her shoulder, she sauntered into the extremely warm cave, taking in the smooth walls. It looks like the dragons here had made themselves at home, not that it would help them.

When she got to the main part of the cave, her eyes bugged at the amount of treasure that sat in the centre of the cave. Shaking her head, she focused back on her task, walking around until she found her target.

E.N.D stood beside a blonde girl, both frozen midstep. With a skip in her step, she went over to the pair, pulling her favourite dagger from its sheath. The blonde girl was hot, with amber eyes and a curvy body. She licked her lips.

Dimaria definitely had a thing for curvy girls, especially blondes.

Bringing the edge of the dagger to the blonde's collar, she let it slide through the fabric, giving her access to the frozen girl's front. She'd play around with her newfound prey before she carved E.N.D's heart from his chest.

A slightly crazed smile twisted her lips as she let a finger trace the blonde's flawless skin, about to drift upwards when something slammed into her side, throwing her to the side.

Rage swallowed her instantly, gaze falling upon the young girl standing not to far away, wind rushing around her.

"How can you move?! No one can resist my time stops!" She snarled as she hastily darted back towards her target. The dragoness followed, stopping when Dimaria brought her dagger to E.N.D's throat." Eh, it doesn't really matter, I'll kill your precious king and the pretty blonde, then I'll rip you _limb_ from _limb_." She snarled.

the girl didn't seem too concerned, and, feeling rather upset, Dimaria slashed at E.N.D's neck, expecting a spray of blood and a lot of tears from the dragoness, only for her blade to come away completely clean, a few cracks along its edge. She'dcompletely forgotten about how hard dragon skin was. She staggered a step back with wide eyes, and the blue haired girl advanced, wind whipping more violently around her.

"You've come into my home to kill my friends, you're not leaving until you atone for it!" She growled as her body changed, the dragon rising to the surface. In an attempt for a distraction, the fallen fairy slashed out at the blonde, knocking her body to the ground as the dagger cut through her side, stretching from her left side to her right hip." Lucy!"

Dimaria took that as her chance to run, sure the dragon would not follow in favour of caring for he wounded friend. She let time resume as she bolted from the cave, climbing onto the ice slide that the black haired man had made earlier, using it for her hasty retreat.

Eileen would be disappointed, Zeref even more so.

But maybe she would get off with less of a punishment for killing the blonde girl.


	4. Burning From the Inside Out

**Burn From the Inside Out**

E.N.D gasped for air as he fell to the ground, dropping on his ass like a bag of rocks. He rubbed gingerly at his throat, the skin there feeling slightly tender. Then the scent of blood hit him, his eyes widening slightly, surprised by the sweet yet exotic taste of it on his tongue.

"Lucy!" The cry from his young nestmate had him looking for her, eyes widening even more as he took in the sight of her leaning over Lucy, shrinking from her dragon form. Blood poured from a nasty wound that cut across the blonde's front, already pooling on the ground below her. Her shirt was open, a clean cut from the collar to the hem line, revealing most of her front, the top pulled closed to hide her breasts. She was silent for the most part, whimpering from the pain every now and again.

He scrambled over to her, lifting her head so that he could rest it on his lap, cooing quietly to her as Wendy immediately began to try to heal the deadly wound.

"What happened?" He rumbled, trying to remain quiet as the blonde snuggled closer to him, most likely to use him as her anchor. The sky dragoness didn't look away from her patient, but he could feel the anger coming off of her easily.

"A fairy with the time spirit's gift... she came here to try and kill you and Lucy. She cut open Lucy's shirt and tried to touch her. I pushed her away and she tried to slit your throat. She ended up doing this to Lucy to get away..." E.N.D felt a growl bubble up in his throat, and he fought the urge to hunt down the fairy who dared hurt someone close to him like Lucy.

He watched as the bluenette's magic stitched skin and muscle back together, not even leaving a scar behind. She seemed lost when looking at the already spilt blood, worry evident in her gaze.

"She's lost too much blood, I've healed her, but she'll die if her body doesn't produce more..."

"Is there anything we can do?" E.N.D brushed a few strands away from the blonde's paling face. Maybe Wendy had something to help, anything.

"My old man used to tell me a story bout how he and his brother saved lives..." gajeel's voice came from behind him, and E.N.D glanced over his shoulder. The iron dragon had his arms crossed over her chest, blood red eyes looking down at the blonde almost blankly, although you could see a hint of worry.

"Gajeel, that's a huge risk! She's not a dragon, and we don't know if she's strong enough to handle it." Wendy warned, looking rather conflicted.

"It's either we do nothing and she dies slowly, or we do something and she has a chance... its on Salamander though, I can't do it."

"Do what? I have no idea what you two are talking about. Is it gonna help Lucy or not?" He growled out, ignoring the slightly surprised looks on their faces. Wendy reacted first, letting out a sigh as she crouched beside her king.

"Royal dragons never did this since they're generally much stronger and less susceptible to injury. You have to feed the patient your blood. Dragon blood is an extremely potent healing agent, as well as a catalyst to increase the efficiency of the body. The problem is dragon blood has so much magic, it can rip the patient apart. Only a dragon can withstand it without question. The only way it doesn't kill anyone else is if the dragon harbours strong feelings." She finished.

E.N.D blinked at his friend then nodded. He does like Lucy, she is hilarious to tease.

"I'll try if it means she has a chance at living..." he mumbled. Gajeel gave an odd laugh, saying something so quietly that not even E.N.D could hear.

"Bite your wrist and hold it to Bunnygirl's lips. _Try_ not to flinch or anything." he didn't hesitate, bringing his right wrist to his mouth, biting down. It barely hurt as the taste of his own blood filled his mouth, so he didn't understand why Gajeel said to try not to flinch.

His cut wrist came to the blonde's lips, and he pressed it gently against them. Almost immediately, she latched on, sucking greedily at him, and he gritted his teeth, at the unfamiliar, slightly painful feeling. E.N.D could feel a tug on both his magic and his curse power, belatedly realizing that it was seeping out alongside his life essence.

Eyes falling to the blonde, he felt growing satisfaction in him as she slowly regained colour in her face. He could even hear her heart, it was so quiet and weak before, now thumping rapidly in her chest.

"She's taken enough..." Wendy reached to gently pull the blonde from his wrist, only to jerk back as a shock of magic filled the air around Lucy, a bright spark of light jumping from her skin, making the young dragoness jump away, a yelp coming from her.

The males starred wide eyed at the angry red burns that dotted over their nestmate's arm. E.N.D starred down at the blonde as a wave of weakness washed over him, making his head feel light.

"Shit... Luce, you gotta stop..." he tried to pull away, wincing when she bit into him, teeth digging deeper into his skin than his own had. Panic was slowly building up in him as he tried to pull away more forcefully, eyesight wavering slightly, black spots gathering in his vision.

"Release Caeleste Tetigit..." he could barely comprehend the words, too drained and tired, but Lucy definitely could. She reeled away from him, gasping and writhing away from him, as if she'd been burned. E.N.D fell to the side, feeling utterly spent.

He could really use a nap at the moment, he mused as someone rolled him onto his back. His eyes were still on the blonde, and he could practically taste her scent on his tongue, seductively sweet. Using that to ground himself from drifting, he watched Wendy kneel beside him, taking his wrist in one hand and waving the other over it, the wound sealing over as if it never existed.

A loud sob had the dragoness turning away from him, and when she turned back, he could see confusion in her eyes. Moving fast enough that he couldn't react. A breeze tickled at his face, then the world went black.

* * *

 _The moon glowed gold above their heads, bright enough that the night looked akin to dusk._

 _He sunk his fangs into his partner's skin as they pressed tightly together, her hands running through his hair, pulling him more firmly onto her. He shivered as she squeezed and rippled around him, a breathy moan escaping her lips as her world shattered. He knew he was about to shatter as well, a primal side of him crowing in delight, urging him to the end._

 _With a final jerk, he spilled himself, enjoying the pleasant warmth that spread through him, and the happy whine of the female atop him. Slowly, he unlatched from her shoulder, licking gingerly at the bleeding marks he'd left. His eyes raised to find hers, but the second they connected, the world around him disappeared, and he couldn't even remember what colour her eyes had been._

* * *

 _Yet again, the golden moon hung in the sky, although seeming more ominous._

 _A roar, so primal that even he could not discern what made it, filled the sky, so loud that he would have considered covering his own ears. His head turned, and he realized that he was flying, his focus falling upon the giant city he approached. Yet again, another roar sounded, and he realized it was him. His body pitched forwards without his consent, and he found himself hurtling towards the city, screams of the people filling his ears._

 _He tried to stop, but his body did not respond. Fire, hotter than what he normally used, burned at the back of his throat, and he tried to choke it back as his body halted a few hundred feet above the city._

 _He couldn't do anything but watch as the city was turned to nothing more than a large pile of ash. He cried out in his own mind at the horrific brutality and tried to fight. Images, memories started to flit across his vision, most of a woman that lay defeated in a room of gold, chained to the floor as he- no, the monster controlling him, ripped away part of her soul each time he mounted her, forcing himself upon her. He could remember her screams, how she'd cry out for him, beg him to stop. The monster controlling him purred as he lost the will to fight, filled with grief and pity for the poor woman._

 _It called for him to sleep, said he wouldn't have to worry if he did, that he wouldn't hurt her anymore._

 _So he slept._

* * *

E.N.D jerked to sit upright, eyes wide. Those dreams, they felt so real, and it terrified him.

He did not know who the woman was, although he knew she was in both dreams. The monster that had controlled him had left him quivering, full of fear, while the first dream had left him feeling more than slightly aroused.

"It was just a dream... just a dream..." he whispered to himself, shaking his head, trying to clear it. E.N.D pressed the heels of his palms into his eyes, applying slight pressure before lowering them.

When he opened his eyes again, he realized he was in his room, although none of the light lacrimas were on. Swinging his legs over the edge of his bed, E.N.D stood up, immediately regretting it when his vision swirled a moment later, his head feeling light.

"Shit..." he steadied himself with a hand on the frame of his bed. He moved towards his door once he'd regained his balance, pausing when his hand closed around the knob.

"Calm her down! Damn woman's gonna hurt herself!" Gajeel's voice was easy to hear through his heavy doors, as well as Wendy's softer voice.

"I can't do anything... the magics inside of her, they're... I'm not even sure what they're doing." A muffled scream reached his ears, as well as a humourless laugh.

"But it does look like there might be little Fire Bunnies runnin' round here soon." Fire... bunnies? What the hell were those? It was getting rather boring, hiding behind his door, and he felt a slight need to be close to others oddly enough.

Opening the door, he was greeted by the sight of Gajeel leaning on the door frame of Lucy's room, his long spiky hair tied in a ponytail, something he barely ever did.

"Yo, what's goin' on Iron Breath? Why are you in Luce's room?" He clamped a hand on the iron dragon's shoulder, pushing the other male back and stepping in, feeling more like himself as time passed. His eyes widened at the sight of Lucy, back bowing off her bed, spasms shaking her form. He could feel her magic rippling through the air, a shiver ripping through his body when it reached out to his own magic, trying to coax it out.

He ignored its call, eyes going to Wendy. The dragoness was leaning over Lucy, wiping her forehead with a cloth that she repeatedly dipped in what he assumed to be cold water. It was a bit worrying how the second the cloth touched her forehead, it erupted with steam, sometimes coming away slightly burned, tiny golden flames jumping up, trying to catch it aflame.

"What's happening to her Wendy?" The blunette tilted her head towards him, but didn't look away, focus mostly on the blonde.

"The magic in your blood is mixing with hers, which is extremely rare, but she doesn't have your magic capabilities, so this new magic is unstable. Her body is not prepared to have the power and qualities of a dragon, so its trying to force the magic out." she flinched back when a golden flame leaped from the blonde, trying to reach Wendy.

"Your magics fused, and without any block, its trying to either turn her to ash, or into a hybrid. Squirt's got me making some limiters for her that'll help her cope, but i won't be able to get the first one finished fast enough." E.N.D nodded to his friend, acknowledging his words, and after a quick nod to the dragon king, Gajeel left them, probably to go finish his work.

Where Lucy had bitten him stung slightly for a moment as he moved to her side, finger pads brushing lightly over her arm. Her skin was hot to the touch, and little flames chased his fingers, wreathing up his arm like ribbons. It tickled, and he plucked it from his arm, watching it disappear.

"Can i eat it? I'll be able to keep it for overflowing until Metalhead's done." E.N.D wouldn't admit that the flames seemed to tease at him, almost begging him to try.

"Go ahead and try, we have to try anything that might help." the little sky dragon shrugged as she placed the freezing washcloth on Lucy's forehead again, jumping back when the flames lashed out aggressively. He snapped one out of the air before it burned the healer, biting into the flame, cringing at the flavour. It was like two competing dishes, one with a sweet, apple taste, the other savoury and full of heat. Ignoring the odd mixed flavours, he continued to scarf down the golden fire, pulling it in when it tried to avoid him.

He didn't know how long he'd been doing this, with Wendy working on momentarily stabilizing the blond, when Gajeel finally made an appearance, a thin ring of iron in his grasp. Without words, the iron dragon moved to Lucy's hand, slipping the ring on quickly and dancing out of the way of a flame all too excited to burn something.

Almost instantly, the flames disappeared, and E.N.D found himself frowning. They had started to taste delicious after a while, the two, very different flavours becoming something that reminded him of the spiced apple pastries he'd had before in the demon realm.

"Sorry 'bout that, had a few problems with the enchantment." He grunted out as he shrunk the hastily prepared limiter to properly fit the relaxing blonde.

"Do you want me to check it? It's been a while since we've had to use a binding enchantment." Wendy drew away from Lucy, dropping the washcloth in its basin, eyes going to the ring. E.N.D watched as the pair worked over the simple iron trinket, frowning after a moment.

Lucy had a gift from Gajeel, something she might enjoy going around with and showing off, and the thought unsettled him. She should wear something he gives her, not some stupid trinket from Metalhead. The more rational part of his brain recognized that he felt jealous, but he generally didn't listen to the rational part.

Maybe he'd go find something gold for her before she woke up.

* * *

"M'lord Zeref, i know my mission was unsuccessful, but i did manage to kill one of E.N.D's friends." Dimaria reasoned to the black haired demon before her, cringing away in fear when tendrils of darkness slithered closer to her, their malicious nature making the fallen fairy shudder.

"And by attacking E.N.D and killing one of them, you alerted them to our plan! Leave my sights, and tell your queen to come to me." Zeref snarled, fingers tapping at the black crystal ball in his grip. His eyes flashed, the whites becoming black, and a wave of terror washed over the blonde fairy. Dimaria practically fell over herself trying escape the room, ignoring the ache in her hip from where she'd practically body-checked the wall.

Calming herself before going down a spiralling staircase, she descended two floors, eyes going to her other spriggans. Larcade, Eileen, Brandish, and Ajeel stood together, speaking with hushed tones.

"Eileen, he wants to see you..." Dimaria jumped when the scarlet haired fallen fairy turned on her.

"What does The Cursed want?" She shoved past the blonde, stalking out of the room and gliding up to meet with the demon.

"Are you alright Dimaria?" Brandish placed a hand on the other fairies shoulder, the two sharing a brief look. She nodded, lips twitching up into a smile as she remembered being in a similar situation before, just before her wings had been cut and her tail skinned.

"Yes, i made a mistake, but The Cursed did not lash out..." Brandish smiled back, her hand drifting to Dimaria's cheek, pulling their faces close, lips brushing gently.

"Then, would you like to have some fun, my dear mate?" The green haired fairy purred, pressing a kiss to her mate's cheek. They ignored Ajeel's childish comment about getting a room.

He liked watching as much as they liked each other.

* * *

A day after Lucy's stabilization, E.N.D found himself digging through his more precious and elegant possessions, emerald eyes looking for something that he hoped the blonde mage might like. A thin golden chain caught his eye, and with careful eyes, he lifted it from its place. It was a rose gold colour, with a intricately designed ring connected by two thin chains to an equally intricate looking bracelet. If he remembered correctly, it was called a Ventirn, named by the creator when he was drunk.

He hadn't seen anything like it since Alegria, high ranking demonesses would wear the beautiful accessories, and only the highest of them wore gold, most had silver or crystal, both had been enchanting in their own rights.

E.N.D could already imagine Lucy wearing something like his people once had. She would have been revered, possessing a beauty not too commonly found. He could see her swaying down a street, commanding everyone's attention in a dress that hugged her body like a glove until the knees, golden hair gleaming in the light, bewitching eyes drawing in spectators, precious metals and jewels amplifying her beauty.

Just those simple thoughts had heat racing through him, startling him so much that he shoved them away in surprise.

What was he thinking, this was Lucy, he couldn't think about her like this, she would not remain a part of his world, sadly enough. One day very soon, she'd return to her adopted family, and eventually forget him.

"Christ, i can practically taste how depressing you are! The fuck's wrong Salamander?" Gajeel's voice had him jumping, and he nearly dropped Lucy's present, glowering at his nestmate as he made sure he had a good grip on the present. the iron dragon seemed to notice, crossing his arms and giving a chuckle." Givin' that to Bunnygirl? Damn, you are smitten!" Gajeel cackled, shaking his head. E.N.D's glare harshened, but that didn't stop the giant male." Musta forgotten your own laws, unless you are wantin' to propose soon."

He looked down at the accessory in his hands, realizing what Gajeel was talking about.

When his mother had ruled the demon realm, she'd allowed him to propose a single law, expecting something silly from her five-and-a-half year old son.

* * *

 _They were curled up on a giant sofa, his small body curled up against his mother's side. He watched her read over the papers, understanding a few of the words, most unknown to his young mind. She kept glancing at him, surprised with how quiet he was, a trait he'd acquired from his hot-headed father._

 _Taking a momentary break, she threaded her fingers through his hair, giving him a warm grin._

 _"My fire prince... why don't you go play with your uncle? It must be boring to watch me work." She cooed to him, thin lips pressing to his forehead in a sweet kiss. He squealed, pulling his head away and feinting disgust, earning a giggle from his mother._

 _"Uncle Zeref is creepy... he doesn't like me momma." He pouted, small hand reaching out to clutch his mother's simple gown, clinging to the demoness. She frowned, sweeping an errant lock of pitch black hair from her field of view, eyes falling back to the paper._

 _"Uncle is very nice... he's just having a terribly hard time right now." She seemed to notice how her son erratically shook his head, then buried his face in her side." Maybe it would be best if you just hung out with mommy... Daddy should be home soon enough." A light, almost unnoticeable thump had them looking up, the demon queen making a noise of surprise at the sight of a simple messenger demon, a folder clutched tightly to their chest._

 _E.N.D didn't pay attention to the two adults' quick, hushed conversation, attention on the pale, reddish scales that dotted his arms and the faded demonic marks that danced intricately around them. He remembered daddy saying that it was his body maturing, but he couldn't remember much other than that. Mommy always seemed to be happy when she noticed any difference in his markings or scales._

 _"What are you thinking about my little prince?" E.N.D blinked up at her, then raised his arms to her, showing off the slight developments. He beamed up at her when her thin lips twisted up in a smile." Oh, they're even more visible than before! You'll probably be able to access your demon and dragon forms within the month!" She prattled on for a short while longer before cutting herself off with a sigh." I think now would be a good time to give you a little gift..."_

 _She dropped back down on the couch, placing all of the papers except for one to the side. He just then recognized the golden bracelet hanging from her wrist, connected to a simple crystal ring by two thin golden chains. He could remember vaguely when his papa had given it to her, remembered the words full of love that he'd shared._

 _"My political council wants new ideas for a law, and since you'll soon be doing this, why don't you try an idea?" E.N.D lit up at that, both literally and figuratively, his golden red dragon flames flickering along the length of his body and his head. the demoness giggled at the reaction, pulling out a sheet of paper once he'd calmed his flames and placing it infront of him with a quill._

 _He immediately started scribbling ideas in his terrible handwriting, taking atleast ten minutes to get everything down. When he shoved it in his mother's face, she took it with a warm glance at him before deciphering the chicken scratch._

 _Growing bored after a minute, he rolled away from his mommy, standing up and skipping to the door. About to leave, he paused when something poked at his back, looking back to his mommy, who was watching him with a bright smile._

 _"These are all really good ideas E.N.D, but having free candy for everyone might not be too cost effective. Also, no, we cannot ban homework sweetie, you little ones need to learn... i really like the last one though-"_

* * *

"A proposal can be made by gifting a partner a Ventirn, it is a statement of love and promise of a future together, and once given, there is no breaking of the bond, besides death." E.N.D sighed out. He could still remember that day, it was one of his earliest memories. Gajeel crossed his arms with a toothy grin, almost mocking the dragon demon.

"So, you really want Bunny-girl to stay doncha?" The iron dragon watched as his king fiddled with the jewelry, lookin as if he'd spaced out. Loosing his patience, Gajeel let scales ripple over his palms, then clapped them together, making a huge metallic bang sound that had the dark fire dragon jumping.

"What?"

"You fucking heard me Salamander. Do you want her to stay?" He growled the words this time. E.N.D took a deep breath, unsure of what to say.

"I-i don't know Gajeel, she probably wants to leave, and who can blame her, she hasn't known us even for a week... but, thinking about Lucy leaving, it feels like, i don't know, that I'm losing a piece of myself." He let his gaze drop to the Ventirn in his grasp, tightening his hold on it for a moment before crouching to place it where he'd found it.

"She's gonna end up going back to her nest Salamander, and we won't see her again. That feeling that you're talkin' about, it's gonna burn ya from the inside out, unless you decide to get off your ass and do something... I'm gonna go hunt something, you deal with your shit." E.N.D growled quietly, not enjoying the orders.

He watched Gajeel walk away until he couldn't see the iron dragon's back anymore, then sighed. He was confused on pretty much anything Lucy, and it didn't really help that he never had any experience on the matter. Maybe he could just avoid her for the rest of her time here, get her out of his head.

Without his permission, his eyes fell back to the Ventirn, and his mind drifts, looking at the possibility of her refusing them.

Maybe a few days away would be good...

* * *

 **(A/N: i don't really have much to say other than sorry for the late update. It's final exam time now, so I won't have no excuse for being late for a while... See ya next time guys!**

 **Okay? Okay.**

 **Bye)**


	5. Touch the Sky

Touch the Sky

Lucy giggled as she watched Wendy and Gajeel rolled around in the snow, play-wrestling together. It had been a week since the assassin had tried to kill her, and during that time, she'd become closer to the two dragons, extremely thankful seeing as they saved her life.

It had also been a week since anyone of them had seen Nats- E.N.D, the hybrid king having disappeared from the face of the earth. She and Wendy were both upset by his disappearance, but it seemed that Gajeel was angered by it. He snapped whenever they even mentioned E.N.D and seemed to be constantly grumbling under his breath about him when he thought he was alone.

It wasn't just that, the iron dragon seemed to be touchier and more intrusive, catching her in random shoulder hugs, lifting her up and swinging her in the air like a rag doll, sometimes even loitering in her room. She swears she saw him curled in her blankets like a cat. The odd behavior had Wendy glaring at Gajeel sometimes, as well as hushed arguments between them that Lucy couldn't ever properly understand.

A warning hiss had her rolling to the side, just a second before Wendy's feathered body landed where she once was. Lucy watched as Gajeel pounced on the younger dragon, their paws batting at each other's faces. The blonde rolled her eyes at their antics, holding out her hand, palm up. She easily summoned a ball of golden light, then brought her other hand up.

After she'd woken up, Wendy had practically forced her to try and learn to control the dragon fire that had started inside of her, which proved to be rather difficult. Wendy wasn't attuned to the fire element like E.N.D was, and had given up a day ago, saying that the blonde would have to wait until either E.N.D returned, or she went back to her family. By herself, Lucy had been able to push the heat of her flames into her light magic to give it the flame's roaring heat, but that was it, the balls of light she made were hot, but they couldn't burn or singe, and lacked the life that fire had, much to her chagrin.

With both hands cupping her little ball of 'sunshine', she forced some of the flame's heat into her palms, where it eagerly seeped into her light. Allowing the little golden orb to run along her skin, she watched as it turned any snow on her person into steam, leaving her warm and dry, despite the wet, cold environment she was in.

Her keys thrummed with warmth on her thigh, and she smiled at the friendly words they spoke through the gates. the bindings on her magic had been removed when E.N.D left, allowing her to deal with her worried spirits.

Gajeel's heavy tail slammed down onto the ground, barely a foot away from her, and she let out a startled scream, scrambling away on instinct. Jumping to her feet a relatively safe distance away, she placed her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed at the iron dragon.

He almost seemed to freeze under her gaze, straightening from his crouched position, metal plated head turning to look at her, almost fearful. Wendy giggled against her palm, ruffling her feathers as she sat down to watch.

"Watch where your fat tail goes! I do not need to get pancaked because you couldn't control your damn tail!" He frowned at that, heavy tail thumping lightly at the ground. Lucy's glare didn't falter until he dipped his head slightly, still terrified by the female mage. While he was a centuries old dragon, an angry girl who hadn't yet seen two and a half decades had him quaking, mind and tongue as sharp as any dragons'. he hadn't had to suffer the blunt of it until the past week.

"I'm gonna go inside guys, I'm getting cold and my feathers are wet..." Wendy's soft voice broke Lucy's glare, the blonde-haired woman nodding at the dragoness, who jumped in the air, letting her wind lift her up to the top of the mountain that looked over them. Gajeel sent her a crooked grin before bounding into the sky with a grace she didn't know he possessed, only, when he was halfway up, realizing that he'd ditched her.

Grumbling under her breath, she pulled a white key from the key ring, mentally summoning her best flyer. Aquila burst into existence in a spray of golden sparkles, golden brown feathers ruffling in the wind. His bright blue, near white, eyes turned to look at her, his eight-foot-tall body towering over the blonde.

"M'lady, do you require a ride?" His smooth, musical voice reached her, and she nodded, letting her lithe fingers run along his neck, the spirit bird pressing lightly into her hand.

"yes, you know I hate to ask..." she had yet to become powerful enough to use any of the star dresses of her star drop keys, the spirits tied to them were more powerful than any zodiac or silver spirit, save for Leo. Aquila hummed, jumping into the sky and grasping her around the waist with his taloned feet.

"How many times must we tell you, we strive to assist you in any possible way. Ah yes, Draco would like to speak with you whenever possible, concerning the star drop star dresses. He also wanted me to tell you, the heart star of Hydra has fallen, and Hydra's key has reformed." Aquila's let her shift in his grip as they got closer to the cave. A new star drop key? They were extremely rare, and it was an honor just to be told about its reforming. The fact that it was Hydra that had reformed had the blonde even more excited, it had been millennia since all five of the Royal spirits had keys in the realms.

The cold bite of snow drew her from her thoughts as she yelped, jumping to her feet and glaring at the eagle spirit.

"You get distracted by your thoughts too easily. I hope to assist you again in the near future." Aquila crowed before his body disintegrated into a cloud of soft golden mist. Lucy sighed as she shook herself off, grumbling under her breath about not being easily distracted, she totally did not get distracted!

Arms wrapped around her middle, the blonde padded into the dragon den, ignoring Gajeel's chuckles, and throwing an explosive ball of light at his snout, giving Wendy a warm smile before slinking into the common area and flopping into one of the armchairs. Eyes watching to make sure that neither of her 'roommates' could see, she plucked a white colored key from her key ring.

A jewel that looked like a silver cats eye stared back at her, almost seeming to wink in the light.

"Open, gate of the dragon, Draco." The key thrummed as it sucked away at her magic, a figure coming into the world in a spray of sparkles. It took a large amount of magic to summon the dragon spirit, and she could already feel the stress of it. Draco sat, curled, before her, shrunk so that he was just a bit bigger than a large dog. His serpentine body curled, silvery blue scales bright as if they each were a tiny star.

"It's been a long time. I'd like to speak with you."

* * *

E.N.D huffed as he circled the top of the mountain for a fifth time, debating over whether or not to go down to be with Lucy and the others. The sun was setting, soon to be hidden from his sight.

He had tried to stay away, his mind too focused on a certain blonde. Separation hadn't helped in the slightest, the urge to hide her away and keep her to himself almost crippling.

If she wasn't what he thought she was, E.N.D would eat his own tail.

A particularly strong wind buffeted him from the side, pushing him closer to the mountain, another one pushing him down slightly. His head swung around, eyes narrowed. He soon caught sight of a feathered head poking out of a large pile of snow on the mountainside, copper eyes bright against the pure white background.

Wendy jumped out of the snow, feathers taking an orange tint in the sunset light, as she winged up towards him, her much smaller body crashing into his.

"E.N.D! You're back!" She trilled as her arms squeezed around his neck. He grinned, patting her gently on the head and ruffling her feathers.

"Yea, how have things been going Squirt? I hope Metalhead hasn't touched any of my treasure..." He didn't miss the flash of worry in her eyes, lips twisting into a frown. "Wendy, what happened?" She stared at him for a second before jumping out of the hug, diving towards the nest.

"Talk to Gajeel, I'm not a part of this!"

"Wha- Wendy!" He squawked, hastily following after the sky dragon. They touched down a few seconds later, and he scowled as Wendy darted inside. What the hell happened when he left?

E.N.D padded in after her, long neck swiveling around, trying to look for anything out of place in his hoard, noting that not a single piece or item of gold was missing. Letting out a huff of breath, he shrunk to his demon form, cringing when he heard someone, probably Wendy, screeching at someone, although he didn't know what she was saying.

Moving towards the common room, intent on finding everyone, he paused, taking a deep breath. Confusion and irritation rocked him when Lucy's scent of roses and almonds hit him, muted by Gajeel's cool iron scent, the two almost mixing. He couldn't stop the growl that bubbled up in his throat, legs taking him into the hallway that held the rooms.

By scent, he could hardly recognize Lucy's room, practically drowned out by Gajeel's scent. Not even bothering to knock, he shoved the door open, eyes immediately finding the blonde mage passed out in her bed, curled beneath the sheets. E.N.D could see the iron ring she'd been given glistening on her finger, and as he approached her side, he choked at the strength of the iron dragon's scent, a more primal part of him roaring in outrage.

His body subconsciously went into his half dragon form, and he quickly plucked a scale from his arm, another growing in its place immediately while the removed scale turned white. Placing it on the bedside table, he whirled, not even glancing back before he stormed out of the room, bee-lining towards a certain male.

* * *

Gajeel hummed as his scales clashed, creating a metallic clang that echoed off the walls of his room.

An enraged snarl suddenly caught his attention, and he whirled to face his door, jumping slightly at the sight of E.N.D, in his half dragon form, fangs bared and eyes looking like a feral animal's. The dark fire dragon didn't hesitate to pounce with a roar, fire dripping from his lips and he lashed out with fiery talons, Gajeel barely dodging.

"Holy shit Salamander! What the actual fuck?!" He raised a scaled over arm to block a hit aimed for his skull, cringing as the sheer heat of the flames melted some of his scales instantly. Gajeel growled when his king sent a ball of flame at his face, barely managing to duck out of its way. The room was quickly filling with smoke, his vision becoming more and more obscured, while the heat threatened to melt him alive. At this rate, the whole mountain might just burn down.

About to dash to the door to get some much-needed air, the iron dragon wheezed as a solid kick sent him crashing against the back wall, creating a small crater. Winded, he couldn't get to his feet fast enough, E.N.D closing the distance between them, scaled hand wrapping tightly around Gajeel's neck.

"You fucked up Black Steel, there was one line, and you fucking crossed it!" His voice wasn't as it usually was, taking on a hint of feral-ness, words holding growls and snarls to them. Gajeel's survival instincts screamed at him about how stupid he was the past week, he knew he was trying to teach the flamebrain a lesson, but he severely underestimated the reaction he would get.

His hands tried to pry E.N.D off of him, only to fly away when the flames threatened to melt them. There was no way to free himself, his world blurring and the edges of his vision going black. Gajeel sucked in a breath before dropping his head, a submissive rumble coming from his chest. It was probably the safest, and the most demeaning, way of getting out of this without a few broken limbs.

"Try anything like that again and I'll break your leg." The dark fire dragon growled, squeezing hard once before releasing. He backed away enough that Gajeel felt relatively safe, lifting his head, eyes widening as he took in the dragon king's face. The scales on his face were supposed to look like glittering rubies, but now they resembled onyx gems, bleeding back to ruby down his neck. His eyes weren't that of a fire dragon, red slitted pupils surrounded by black.

E.N.D bared his fangs one last time before turning to leave, tail whipping viciously behind him. Gajeel waited a few minutes after he left before standing and sulking to his bed.

He rubbed at his throat, grimacing as he felt a few melted scales. He'd have to pry them off once they healed a bit. Rolling onto his back, he let his head hit the pillow, eyes closing as he drifted to sleep.

* * *

She felt warm. It had been a while since she'd felt like this, before her mother got sick, when they'd spend days curled on a couch. Her pillow was just as warm, and she couldn't help but to snuggle into it.

Something applied pressure to the small of her back, and she blinked as she was pressed into something warm and hard, getting an eyeful of a tanned chest. Her eyes drifted up to her new bedmate's face, and she blinked up at Natsu's -she preferred that to E.N.D- face. She couldn't help but marvel at him, every single bit about him was handsome, from his strong chin to his salmon pink hair that she really wanted to run her hands through. She'd really missed him the past week.

Her eyes drifted to his full lips, and Lucy felt her cheeks heat as she wondered what he'd taste like. A few more... intimate thoughts filled her mind as well, startling the young blonde. Trying to roll away, before any more not so platonic thoughts filled her mind, she completely forgot about the arm he had slung over her, and ended up being crushed against the male's hard chest, a purr coming from him a moment later.

She tried to squirm away, freezing when he tightens his grip, the purring turning to growls. He almost seemed to cocoon around her, his nose burying in the crook of her neck, tickling at the sensitive skin and making her giggle.

"Five more minutes..." Lucy felt a shiver race up her spine, his voice raspy and deep, and oh so wonderful. She'd question her not so innocent reaction later. Bracing her hands on his chest, she took a moment before giving one hard shove. Natsu seemed to be awake when his back hit the ground, a loud screeching noise coming from him. She quickly regretted pushing him, his arms had wrapped tighter around her body, and she ended up falling on top of the dragon.

Groaning, the blonde rubbed at her forehead, having hit his shoulder rather hard

"What the hell..." the hands around her waist fell away, and glancing up at Natsu, she gave a sheepish grin at his confused look.

"Morning?" He blinked up at her, shifting to lean on his elbows, bringing their faces closer together. His eyes seemed to brighten as he finally realized what exactly was happening.

"Morning Luce..." before she could move, he'd wrapped her up in a hug, pulling her tight against his chest. The blonde couldn't help but smile as she returned the hug, she'd missed the dork." Did you miss me?"

He laughed when she punched him lightly on the shoulder, letting the blonde squirm away. She couldn't help but grin back, turning her head so he couldn't see it.

"As if." Natsu didn't seem to believe her for a second, she could see him roll his eyes and sit up fully. Shaking her head, she turned back to face him, crossing her arms over her chest." So, where the hell did you go? We, well not really Gajeel, were worried about you, you just disappeared, idiot..."

"I had to clear my head, I can't tell you where I went, it's kind of personal..." He shrugged at her frown, getting to his feet and holding out a hand. Lucy didn't hesitate to take it, allowing herself to be pulled to her feet, only for Natsu to crouch and throw her over his shoulder like a sack of flour.

"Natsu! Put me down!"

"Nope, I'm a monstrous, evil dragon and you're my princess!" The blonde let out a sigh at that, then began to flail her legs, managing to land three hits. One to the ribs. The next to his side. And the final to his groin.

He crumbled almost instantly into a pitiful little ball, whimpers and hisses of pain making her giggle.

"Badass princess, one. Bad dragon, zero!"

"Cruelty, this is cruelty..."

* * *

Lucy didn't know how, but she was somehow roped into helping Wendy to beat her nestmates in a game of 'hunt'. She shivered as she pulled her heavy white cloak tighter around her, thankful for the dragon fire that Natsu had inadvertently left thriving inside her. The severe cold of the mountains no longer felt like -30°, but something closer to 0°, which she was thankful for.

She stumbled over a rock hidden in the snow, silently cursing her clumsiness. How come she agreed to be out here anyway?

Wendy's pleading face filled her mind's eye, alongside Natsu's distraught one. Hunt was a dragon's version of hide and go seek, with an hour to hide, and three hours to remain free. The hunter would have to pin the hiders in order to catch them. Wendy had never won the game, mostly due to her tiny size, both Natsu and Gajeel towering over her.

Taking another step, she couldn't stop herself from making a sound of surprise when the ground caved beneath her. Her back was against the rough rock as gravity carried her underground, the sharp stones shredding the back of her shirt and her skin. She fell for almost ten seconds, unable to make a sound, voice muted by sheer terror, before the wall became smoother, sloping down in a way that saved her from what she assumed would be a hard, crippling fall.

Heart hammering in her chest, the blonde could finally breathe when she finally came to a stop. Adrenaline flowed in her veins as she shifted onto her knees, amber eyes scanning the poorly lit cave she'd tumbled into. It wasn't very large, she could touch the ceiling if she tried. The only source of light came from the hole she'd fallen in, snow already beginning to drift to the bottom. It was cold, not as bad as it was above ground, but still uncomfortable.

Her hands flew to her hip, only to pass through thin air, her keys no longer hooked to her belt. Panic setting in, she looked around with wide eyes, searching for a glimmer of gold or silver, anything. It didn't take long for her to search through every inch of the cave, and she released an enraged cry as she let herself drop to the ground. She whimpered when her back touched the wall, the long cuts on her back stinging at the contact, instinctively leaning away.

Reaching to her back, she winced as she swiped two fingers over the ripped skin, fingers coming away slick with blood.

Well, at least they'd be able to smell her.

She surveyed the cave she'd be trapped in for the next while. The walls, save for the one that had just shredded her back, were smooth and decorated with drawings, some of dragons, others of demons, the ones further back ones of some mythical creature she'd never encountered. Her new magic rippled beneath her skin, and she remembered that she could use it. Generating her usual ball of light, she pushed the flames Natsu had given her into it, holding the warm little ball in her palms.

There was something carved into the back wall, and she took a few careful steps towards it, holding her light close so she could see it.

It looked like a magic circle from centuries ago, with at least three layers to it. Knowing not to touch something she didn't understand, she got up on her tip toes, reading the scripture above the circle.

"Qui tenuerit devorabit universam terram usque ad portam in lumine… The gate to a land that swallows all light…" she took a step away from the circle, but the sound of something shattering filled the air, and she realized it was her ball of light. The light was being sucked from it, and it dimmed and dimmed until it disappeared, leaving only the heat of the flames it once held.

She scrambled over to the far wall, keeping as far from the gate as possible. It was sealed shut, yet it still was able to steal away her light. Fear slowly began to fill her, and it wasn't long before that fear became growing panic.

"Wendy!? Gajeel?! Natsu?! Anyone out there?!" she couldn't suppress the urge to call out for help. She could feel darkness reaching out for her. She was trapped with something that's sole purpose was to take away the light, which she could not survive without. Subconsciously, she knew losing her light would kill her.

Eventually, the reaching became tugging, and tugging became ripping as the gate demanded to swallow her light by any means. It felt so wrong, to have her light be stolen away, and minute by minute, she could feel herself dimming, her calls for help becoming more and more fevered. After what felt like hours, she started to feel drained and tired, her voice so weak than she doubted she was actually saying anything.

"No… no, Luce…" a voice had her opening her eyes -when had she closed them? - arms gently lifted her from the floor, holding her gently to a warm chest. Whoever held her was warm, and she could practically taste light coming off them, so she snuggled close as the light clinging to them wreathed around her. "c'mon, lets get you out of here…" they were moving, and she could feel the wind against her face.

* * *

"She won't be safe… if anyone finds this out, they'll hunt her down and kill her."

"or use her to kill E.N.D…"

"Exactly… we can't allow anyone else to know, for both of their sakes…"

Lucy rubbed her eyes as she tried to sit up. A heavy, warm arm was wrapped around her middle, holding her against an equally warm body. She glanced over her shoulder, only to find her cheek pressing against the dark fire dragon's. he nuzzled gently against her, arm tightening around her waist and pulling her more flush against his front. The heat coming off him was extremely relaxing, and she found herself relaxing, despite the compromising position they were in.

Looking at him, she found herself hoping to wake up like this more often. He was like a big, warm, handsome teddy bear. Not that she'd tell anyone she thought that. Lucy sighed then cuddled up to Natsu, knowing full well she wouldn't be able to get up until he woke up.

She wasn't sure how long she'd dozed off, but when she opened her eyes, there was something wrapped more fully around her than his arm was, covering almost her entire body, surrounding her in a near uncomfortable warmth. His chest was rumbling against her back, the noise coming from him soothing, which didn't allow her to sense the tense atmosphere around them.

E.N.D, on the other hand, was far from relaxed, fangs bared as he growled at the male standing far too close to him and his blonde. Gajeel had his hands raised as he held glares with the dark fire dragon.

"Get up Salamander, we need to talk. Bunny-girl's absorbed enough from ya." His eyes narrowed at that, and he dipped his head down so that his cheek pressed against his bedmate's skin, pulling away when he felt the telltale thrum of magic within her. Gajeel gestured for him to follow before leaving the room. It took him a moment to muster up the willpower, and he slowly began to untangle himself from the blonde. Once he was finally untangled himself and managed to get himself standing, he glanced back at Lucy, who had rolled right on top of where he'd been, no doubt soaking up warmth.

Making his way into the hallway, he barely caught the sky dragoness that bounced off him, hands grasping her by her shoulders.

"s-sorry! Gajeel wanted me to make sure you were getting up." He huffed and rolled hid eyes at that.

"Why does that Lugnut think I'm a freaking sloth? Why do you guys wanna talk so bad anyways?" the sky dragon's eyes dropped from his to glance at the closed door of the room he'd just left. Did she not want Lucy to hear what they were saying?

"Its really important, c'mon." hands wrapped tightly around his wrist, and he found himself being dragged towards their common room.

Gajeel was lying sprawled across one of the many couches, face down. Wendy huffed and released the dark fire dragon, spitting a mini tornado that picked the iron dragon up then dumped him on the floor. Looking rather annoyed, Gajeel lifted himself to his feet, leveling a glare with E.N.D and crossing his arms over his chest.

"took ya long enough."

"Shut up before I roast you, now, what the hell do you have to tell me?" the two dragons shared a glance between themselves before looking back at him.

"Lucy's your mate… at least, I'm 90% sure…" she took his silence as a prompt to continue, bringing her hands behind her back. "She survived the magic that she got from your blood and even managed to create her own strand. That's impossible when your magic's are so different, at best she should've stayed on bed rest, but she was perfectly fine after a few hours." Gajeel had hummed in agreement, and E.N.D lifted his gaze to him.

"Simple logic should tell you that she has to be too. You know as well as I do why the gate reacted when she got near it. Only someone with the magic that we used all those centuries ago could access it. She managed to crack it open." The iron dragon made a good point. The gate to the night realm had been sealed by him and four of his dragon brethren centuries ago, and only their combined power could break the seal. But Lucy's magic carried his own with it, and she'd accidentally opened a can of worms that she shouldn't have been able to.

"So, what am I supposed to do? It's not like I can just go up to her like 'hey Luce, just wanted to tell ya, you weakened this ancient spell, and oh yeah, we're mates so it looks like you're stuck with me.'" He groaned at the end, letting his head fall into his palms. He was more than ecstatic to find out that fate had decided to pair him with someone as amazing Lucy, but because of this, she'd be stuck with a target on her back, and if she decided that she didn't want whatever they could have, it would tear his heart out.

A dragon couldn't survive without their fated other half.

* * *

Lucy had barely seen the dragons since she'd woke two weeks ago. Erza and Gray had come back a week ago and brought news with them. Practically nothing had happened, although they had sensed a strong magical disturbance from somewhere in the direction of Seven. Makarov had sent Mira, Cana and Jellal to investigate the disturbance, which had the fairy queen quite on edge.

They'd stayed for only three days, but it had been refreshing for the blonde after the cold shoulder treatment she'd received from her hosts. Gray had offered to stay for longer and even send for his girlfriend, but Lucy had just waved off the idea. It probably would've irritated the dragons if they brought anyone else to their nest.

Now, Lucy found herself wrapped up in a wool cloak, courtesy of Aries, wandering around the base of the mountain in which the nest resided. She'd refused to touch the new magic that had come from E.N.D's flames, far too annoyed by the dark fire dragon to use it. He'd been so friendly and kind, then suddenly he's treating her like a forgotten toy.

It took nearly thirty minutes of aimless walking for her to find somewhere that had a rock that wasn't covered in snow, and upon seeing it, she sat down cross-legged, pulling out her keys and laying them out in front of her in two rows. Her silver keys, Plue, Pixis, Lyra, Crux, and Horologium, looked like she'd spent hours shining them to perfection, which she had.

The stardrop and zodiac keys seemed to glow with celestial magic, and she swept an open palm over them. Lupus, Pavo, and Cetus' keys didn't react in the slightest, not that that wasn't expected, while the other keys all warmed and shook slightly. The jeweled eye that sat on Draco's key glittered then winked at her, while the fire on Phoenix's key glowed and pulsed.

Reaching out with her magic, Lucy summoned both spirits, one appearing in a flashy show of blue flame while the other appeared in a flash of light. The stardrop spirits stood side to side, phoenix's bright red and orange feathers exotic compared to Draco's glittering silver-blue scales.

Both were huge, Draco standing as tall as the other dragons in his full form while Phoenix was a few feet taller than her.

"Lucy! Its been too long!" the fire bird sung as he wrapped his wings around her, cocooning her in warmth before releasing her. Draco laughed, the deep sound coming from his rumbling chest, dipping his head to press his snout gently against Lucy's cheek.

"It has Nix. How come you've been wanting to be summoned so much lately Draco?" the celestial dragon didn't get a chance to speak. Phoenix was one of her most chatty spirits, and he liked to remind everyone about that.

"We heard the great news! How come you didn't tell us though? I thought family was gonna be the first one to- ack! What the hell Draco?!" he rubbed at the spot where the dragon's tail had walloped him, bright blue eyes narrowed at the dragon. Draco held his glare with an even more ferocious one, which only had the blonde's confusion rising. What the hell was Phoenix talking about?

"Phoenix, stop talking…" his giant head swung back to look at her, and he ignored the confused look on her face. "Hydra is restless, she is demanding that you retrieve her key. I would suggest that you find it soon, her magic will be extremely important in your future." He lifted a paw, holding it out in front of her. Lucy reached out just as he dropped whatever he was carrying, slightly surprised as soft canvas filled her hands. "the map is enchanted with Hydra's magic, it will lead you to her key, no matter where it may lie." Rolling open the map, Lucy felt a burst of magic, like she'd just stepped in a whirlpool of magic. Ink rose up from the canvas in the shape of the eastern valleys of Fiore and the ocean that sat beside them. A small, blue-green dot pulsed on the map before disappearing.

"Is this…"

"The map to the key of the water serpent. Be ready to leave Lucy, because no matter what E.N.D and the other dragons want, you must retrieve that key."

 **Hey guys! Chapter 5 is up and ready for ya! Quite a bit has happened, Lucy's even been given a quest that to find a new key! There's a lot going on now, things are gonna start picking up in the next chapter, and we'll be looking even deeper into dragon and demon lore. If you can't wait for some good fights, just hold on a bit longer, I promise that you'll get what you want! I've got quite a bit more writing to do, and you've all got lives to live, so I'll see ya next time guys!**


	6. Fragments

**Fragments**

It felt odd, sneaking around like this. As if she weren't actually a guest here, but a thief. Not like she had any other choice. Nat- the dragons had shown that they wanted nothing to do with her, Wendy was the only one who payed attention to her, and that was just making sure that she hadn't accidentally offed herself.

This was a long time coming, Hydra's appearance just got the ball rolling.

She'd summoned Virgo earlier in the evening, and the maiden spirit had showed up without even the usual flash, carrying a backpack that had been stuffed with travel supplies and two sets of clothing. Lucy was wearing the plush sweater and tights, both white so she could blend in with the snow of the mountains. She'd change into the tight-fitting black jumpsuit once the snow was gone.

Holding her keys so that they didn't jingle against each other, she crept the long way through the hoard, avoiding anything that could be knocked over. It took a handful of minutes to navigate since Nats- the dragons didn't know the meaning of organization, but it was rather satisfying to reach the tunnel to the outside.

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure no one was watching her, she slipped out of the hoard and into the cold.

She wasn't going to waste anymore time here, she had a mission, and she was going to complete it. Even if it killed her.

* * *

Zeref paced in circles, red eyes trained on the ground. The fallen fairies he had enslaved were nothing if not useless. None were strong enough to face a full-grown dragon, and they weren't even attempting to invade the dragon hoard! It had gone decently well the first time, Dimaria had cut down one of E.N.D's friends, and not soon after, Invel had spotted the dark fire dragon leaving his hoard behind, taking off into the sky too fast for the ice fairy to launch an attack.

There hadn't been much activity since that, mostly the sky and iron dragons coming out. E.N.D had reappeared and joined his family, but Ajeel had been the only one watching, and stood no chance at even getting close.

His eyes lifted to the black metal arm brace on his desk, something small enough that only a child could wear it properly, and lifted it to himself. Small rubies glittered along it, and in the center an eye was engraved in the metal.

It starred up at him, mocking him, like a prisoner chained to a wall, the key to their freedom dangling just out of their reach.

That… mutt took everything that was supposed to be _his_! The throne, the love of the people, everything. Zeref had been forgotten, reduced to being the prince who would never touch the crown. His sister, bless her soul, had ruined him because of her _love_ for that ugly salamander she'd called her mate.

Because of her blind love, he'd lost everything, and now, here he sat, trapped within the cold stone walls of an old building. It crumbled around him as the years passed, a physical representation of his soul. Used then forgotten.

The sound of feet pounding up the stairs had him looking up as he tucked the brace into a velvet box. A quick knock sounded on the door, and it almost immediately swung open, revealing God Serena, who looked out of breath.

"Master…" he let out a long breath to calm himself. "Jacob had spotted someone leaving the dragon's nest. It's not a dragon, and it doesn't seem to be too strong."

"Kill it. Anyone allied with my nephew must pay the ultimate price."

* * *

Staggering through the heavy snowstorm, Lucy regretted not working harder to be able to harness Phoenix's star dress, because it was really cold, even though there was dragon fire coursing through her veins. Kicking a pile of snow out of her path, she huffed out a puff of air. She could summon one of her spirits since they'd all wanted to talk with her, but she was still too close to the nest to feel comfortable summoning one of her colorful friends.

She stepped on a particularly slick patch of snow and ice, and she slipped off her feet, falling backwards into the snow with a yelp. Snow got in her pants and jacket, much to her annoyance, and she shook herself out to the best of her ability.

"Gods, I hate this weather…" she tucked her hands in her pockets, glaring up at the night sky as if it had wronged her. The wind howled in her ears, growing loud enough to keep her from hearing even her own footsteps. She slid down a small hill, somehow managing to stay on her feet when something bound around her waist.

It pulled her harshly to the side, and she tumbled into the snow with a yelp. Scrambling up, she flinched when a blade whipped past her, slicing along the sleeve of her jacket. Looking around, Lucy couldn't find a single living creature in the white wasteland, or the blade that had cut her jacket. Her fingers brushed her keys, and she summoned her fox spirit.

Vulpecula's dark black and orange fur was a stark contrast against the white snow. He was on guard right away, leaping into the air and grabbing something invisible out of the air. It shimmered in his jaws, revealing itself to be a dagger.

"Quite impressive. I've not encountered one who can predict my attacks." Lucy narrowed her eyes, looking around for her assailant. Vulpecula's fluffy tail brushed her calf, and he pointed to her left. "I'll just have to dispose of you first then." Her blood boiled at the threat to her spirit, and she uncoiled her whip, cracking it loudly through the air.

"If you threaten my spirits, you'll regret the day you crossed our path." She scowled when the invisible man chuckled at her words, Vulpecula snarling beside her. "Reveal him." The illusion spirit yipped his agreement, and Lucy felt an invisible burst of magic come off of the fox. The burst quickly hit their opponent, who came into sight almost instantly.

He was tall, about Gajeel's height of so. His hair was cut extremely short, and there was a tattoo of a skull on the center of his forehead. Lucy did not expect to see him wearing a black button up jacket that went halfway down his thighs and black pants. She expected something darker and more mysterious, but he still gave off dangerous vibes.

His eyes looked to her whip with amusement, and she noticed him tighten his clenched fist, was his weapon still hidden? Vulpecula watched him, ready for an attack, fur turning white and ice blue to help him blend in. She didn't wait for the man to attack her, lashing out with a snap of her whip. His wrist flicked as the cracker of her whip neared him, and as it came into contact with his cheek, something sliced right past her thigh, drawing blood and making her wince. Her light magic crackled beneath her skin, but she reigned it in, focused completely on him.

He dabbed at where her whip had flayed his cheek open with a hanker chief, a dangerous look twisting his features when it came away bloody. She wasn't expecting what happened next, his wrist snapping again towards her, only for no blow to come, on her at least.

Vulpecula, who was creeping around the male, yelped as his small body was struck, flying into a pile of snow and disappearing back to the Spirit realm without a sound. Shocked by the sudden defeat of the sneaky spirit, Lucy didn't have enough time to react when her assailant came at her, the way his arm moved telling her what his next move was. Rolling to the side, she hissed when a sharp blade cut through the back of her pants, slicing open the skin there and drawing a good amount of blood.

Thinking fast, she summoned Cancer's star dress, bringing up the blades to halt the dagger he threw at her, the invisible object loudly clashing against the celestial metal. The man's lips quirked slightly, and she narrowed her eyes, leveling one blade at him while the other was held just by her side.

"You're not as weak as I'd initially perceived, Star Blood, I'll commend you on that. However, an assassin never fails at his job." He mused.

"I'm too stubborn to die buddy, trust me, compared to my past enemies, you're nothing." The insult had him bristling, and his weight shifted, barely keeping himself from lunging forwards.

"you have never faced someone such as me." He snapped his arm back, and Lucy yelped as something coiled around her ankle and pulled her clean off her feet. She hit the ground hard, all the air leaving her lungs in a harsh breath. She groaned, flinching with a wince when he threw a dagger that grazed her cheek, blood seeping from the superficial wound. Rolling to her feet, she tightened her grip on her swords, then lunged forwards, one blade jabbing at his torso.

He blocked with his invisible blade, and she swung the other sword towards his side. The assassin jumped away from that strike, and she followed, aiming to land a kick on his unprotected stomach. A small burst of magic came from him, and she found her foot flying through thin air. Amber eyes widened when they landed on him, or to be more precise, the wings and tail that had appeared. Black dragonfly wings beat to keep him above her, and a sharp tipped, black tail.

The fallen fairy dropped back to the ground, his weapons becoming visible, and Lucy staggered holding her jaw in pain. His arm was extended, but she hadn't seen him move to strike her. The next time he moved, she was more prepared, catching his leg by the ankle when he tried to land a spin kick on her side, and using his momentum to send him to the snow-covered ground.

He growled as he picked himself back up, and Lucy placed a blade under his chin, forcing him to raise his head or get a nice new scar.

"Who the hell are you?" he grinned at the question, hands moving in slow deliberate moves to straighten his jacket. Lucy narrowed her eyes, annoyed by his lack of a response, and pressed her blade slightly harder against his neck. "You're a fallen fairy, right? That means you've been exiled from your realm for some pretty bad shit. If you answer my questions, I may consider allowing you to walk away. So, who are you?" his eyes met hers, and she flinched at the emptiness he held within his.

"We are the Spriggan 12, and nothing will stop us from achieving our goal, not even the demon king." He shifted slightly, and she froze, body in shock. Looking down, she felt sick at the sight of the tail that had stabbed right through her unguarded stomach. Dropping her weapons, she quickly applied pressure to the heavily bleeding wound, skittering away when the fallen fairy stood. Her blood dripped into the pristine white snow from his tail.

She barely blocked the kick to the side of her head with her forearms, but that left her entire right side open. He didn't hesitate to bring the edge of a dagger along the unguarded area, cutting from just under her ribs to the top of her hip. She couldn't block the next kick, crumpling when his foot slammed into her temple.

He stood over her, swiping the flat of his dagger over his sleeve a few times to clean it.

"It's been a pleasure Star Blood, but all must come to an end at some point." Something freezing pressed against her throat, and she forced her gaze to meet his, staring him down. Yet again, her magic crackled and writhed beneath her skin, and she grinned, focusing it into her palms. The fairy paused at the sight of her grin, and she felt the pressure on her throat weaken slightly.

"Not today." The magic exploded from her palms, and she had to squint from the blinding light that slammed into the fallen fairy and sent him flying. She tried to sit up after the light died down, but something pressed lightly against her shoulder her, easing her back to the ground.

"Sleep princess, you're safe…"

* * *

She knew there was something wrong the moment she woke up. Wendy scrambled from her bed, feet tangling in the comforter, and darted out into the hallway, making sure she didn't accidentally slam her door on her tail. She swept through the hoard, the common room, and every other place someone could hide, before finally returning to her room, shoulders sagging with relief when she found no signs of anyone in the nest. About to crawl back into bed, she paused when she saw a certain blonde's room door out of the corner of her eye.

It wouldn't hurt to check on her earlier than normal. With that thought in mind, she half skipped up to the door, about to open it when she heard a quiet hiss and a following growl. Turning towards where she heard the noise, she padded up to E.N.D's room, creaking his door open. She could barely keep herself from laughing at the sight.

He'd somehow ended up on the floor, wings and tail thrashing around as he tried, and failed to untangle himself from his blanket. His eyes had looked up at her, and he grinned sheepishly, freezing in a rather amusing position. Snickering under her breath, she moved to free the dark fire dragon, glaring when his tail snaked around to poke her shoulder.

"You're up early." He shrugged at the statement, seating himself on the edge of the bed.

"I could say the same to you." She huffed, arms crossing over her flat chest, glaring half-heartedly. E.N.D looked as if he was going to say something else, only to suddenly bend at the waist, face twisting in pain as his hands clutched at his stomach. "f-fuck…" Wendy moved to his side instantly, forcing him to sit up and moving his hands away.

She lifted her hands, a soft glow coming from them. She leaned away, confused, when she didn't find anything, looking up at the pinkette.

"I-I don't understand…" E.N.D huffed out a puff of steam, then flinched, gaze shifting to his side.

"Fuck! What the hell?" Wendy jumped when his hands suddenly shot up to his head, fingers tangling in pink strands of hair, teeth gritting together. "Shit, it fucking hurts!" a few more colorful words followed, and the sky dragoness gave him a moment before speaking. She hoped this wasn't what she thought it was…

"Is it like a phantom pain?" he blinked up at her then nodded after a moment, and the bluenette's eyes widened, giving her king no reasoning as she dashed from the room. Uncaring of the scene she was making, she shoved her way into Lucy's room, freezing when her gaze landed on the bed.

It was perfectly made, a piece of paper resting on the pillow. She searched the rest of the room before finally going to the paper, ignoring the dark fire dragon when he stepped up to her side. She only got about two words in when he plucked it from her fingers, and she watched as his skin blanched, a wave of despair washing over him.

"no…" the paper fluttered out of his hands, and she reached to grab it, eyes widening when he quickly left the room without a word.

' _By the time you read this, I'll be long gone. I've stayed too long in this mountain, and I have a life to get back to… I had considered staying, but you've all made it clear that I'm no longer welcome. If you try to look for me, you won't be able to find me for a while, I have something that I have to take care of, and I'm very good at staying hidden._

 _I wish you all well,_

 _Lucy H.'_

She was about to reread the letter, only to pause when a roar shook the nest, the sound of falling treasure quiet compared to it. She practically sprinted out of the room, ignoring her iron scaled nestmate when he stumbled out of his room. Wendy barely avoided getting hit by E.N.D's tail as she skidded into the hoard, his claws gouging out the hard stone that made up the floor. It was stiflingly hot in there, and she found herself sweating after a second. She quickly shifted to her dragon form, ducking under his wing when it snapped out.

Gold, silver, gems and other precious objects skittered around the floor, anything that directly touched the dark fire dragon's scales melting in an instant. She tried to stay out of his direct line of sight, the feral look in his eyes terrifying. Wendy glanced at Gajeel when he entered the hoard, watching as he flew up right in front of the raging dragon and _roared_ in his face.

Did he want to die?

E.N.D's body completely froze, and a the room went dangerously silent as golden green eyes focused on the iron dragon's much smaller form. Everything was still, as if someone had pressed pause, then the dragon king's maw opened, unleashing a monstrous roar that almost knocked Gajeel out of the air and knocked the sky dragoness off her feet.

"I'm not surprised that she ran away, who'd want to be with someone who couldn't even keep his own family alive!" that seriously set off the red scaled dragon, because Gajeel barely avoided getting completely roasted by a funnel of flames, the rock wall that was hit melting instantly.

Wendy watched as the iron dragon zipped out of the nest, throwing more insults at E.N.D to get him to follow. The dragon roared when he wasn't able to squeeze out in his giant form, shrinking down and following Gajeel, ignoring Wendy completely. She waited a few moments before shifting into her half-dragon form, eyes widening when she got outside.

E.N.D and Gajeel were both in their dragon forms, and the iron dragon was attempting to keep his king from landing a solid blow. They were a mess of biting teeth, lashing tails and beating wings until E.N.D pushed away from Gajeel, taking in a deep breath as he gained height. The breath attack that he unleashed was unavoidable, the flames slamming into Gajeel and sending him crashing into the ground.

She watched with complete an utter shock as the flames cleared. The stone had turned to magma in some places, red everywhere else. Gajeel laid in the center, scales melted in some places, completely red, unconscious. Wendy winged to his side, winds becoming harsher and faster to cool the metal and rock, enough so that it was at a tolerable heat when she touched down.

Tending to her fallen nestmate, she looked up when another roar ripped through the sky, watching as E.N.D rose into the clouds and disappeared in a blaze of fire.

They couldn't do anything, even if they tried. Wendy just hoped that Lucy was okay, because if she wasn't, then there would be no stopping him.

* * *

Jellal ignored the confused and questioning looks he received as he speed-walked down the golden halls, chocolate brown eyes focused on the path before him. There was something off... he wasn't sure what exactly, but he knew it. It was relatively late, so he chose not to wake his sleeping mate for something that may not actually be an issue.

He nearly tripped over a messenger, throwing an apology over his shoulder as he took a sharp left, the massive, gilded, dark oak doors of the royal library looming over him. The enchanted doors swung open as he neared, and a younger fairy came to greet him, alabaster wings keeping his feet from touching the floor.

"M'lord! Is there anything I could assist you with?" Jellal canted his head, debating over his answer before nodding, focusing on the fairy.

"Retrieve the Realm Eye." The male fairy's eyes widened at the question, disbelief swimming in them. He half expected the fairy to pass out, skin paling significantly. The mage wasn't too surprised, all fae had learned of the Realm Eye as children. An ancient artifact crafted by the gods as a gift to the original fairy queen. It contained enough magic to destroy the Fairy realm if in the wrong hands, but its true purpose was to give the monarchs the ability to watch over and protect their people, and to seek out any threats against the realm.

"the queen must be notified if it is used…"

"She sleeps now, have one of the dream fairies speak to her." The fairy nodded then sped out of the room, fairy dust shimmering to the floor behind him. Jellal sighed, slumping down onto one of the cushioned arm chairs, pinching the bridge of his nose. It was probably around four or five in the morning, and he was running on fumes. He and Erza had just recently returned from his home realm, and the realm jump, as always, drained quiet a bit of energy.

He would definitely rather be curled up in bed with his mate in his arms, but something was wrong, and he wouldn't allow it to grow into a larger problem. That thought was on his mind as the male fairy from before fluttered inside, a diamond encrusted box in his fine-boned hands. He set it down on a table and cracked open the lid, cringing at the amount of dust on it.

Jellal doubted that it had been opened in the past half century, during the rule of Erza's predecessor was probably when it was last used. He moved to stand in front of the box, the fairy moving a good distance away as he reached inside.

The Realm Eye was a small, round ball, barely the size of a babe's clenched fist. It was said that the water goddess Maridel had watered the roots of a dying tree with her divine water, then the earth god Helgan had breathed life back into it. The fire goddess Armine had gifted it the warmth of the sun, and the sky god Raziel trained it so that no wind would ever shift it's roots.

The spirit goddess Sonada had been completely stunned by her brethren's gifts, and had decided to give one of her own. She gave it the ability to touch and see the spirits of all. It was said that the tree was so full of love and thanks towards the gods that she had decided to give them something. Her eyes, so that she may travel the realms and safeguard the children of the gods. Her heart, so that they would know they had her undying love. Her tears, so that all would be able to heal others the way she had been. And her soul. She was to forever ferry the dead into the next life and would hold them to her bosom like a mother would her child as their souls departed.

The tree of life. That was what she was known as. Jellal once would have never believed such a thing, but now, as he gently held the Realm's eye, her eye, he could feel its power, and had little doubt that that fairy tale was not far from the truth.

It thrummed in his open palm, a calm, welcoming magic, and as he stared at the polished looking wood, he swore he saw something flash across it. Words Erza had taught him long ago fell from his tongue as he recited the spell to awaken the eye of Yggdrasil.

" _Ignis sunt caeli et terra et aqua dormientem excitare custos! Stat supra caput, in tenebris est petendas et ostende nobis viam salutis!"_ the Realm eye shuddered in his palm for a second, then slowly, white spots started to appear upon it's surface. When it was completely covered, it rose, spinning in the air, a cloud of mist coming off of it.

The mist shuddered before moving toward him, wrapping around him. It lulled him into closing his eyes, which he did with little argument, allowing the magic to fill his senses.

* * *

 _Darkness._

 _He couldn't see anything. His wrists were bound in chains, they rattled with every move he made. The taste of blood was on his tongue, and he cringed at it._

 _The sound of heels clicking against stone was the only hint of someone coming, and then a beam of light hit him in the face._

 _A woman stood in the door, long hair falling in two thick braids that reached her ankles. Black dragonfly wings sat on her back, and he watched as she stepped forwards, finally able to make out who had him captured._

 _Scarlet hair and mahogany eyes had him completely distraught, but he paused, realizing the shape of her eyes, curve of her lips, were not that of his mate._

 _The Erza-lookalike grinned, the darkness that it held looking cruel, especially considering it was on a face so familiar to him. The fairy reached out with nails that were as sharp as razors, caressing his jaw in a sort of endearing way._

" _pretty little boy, you had such potential, but you turned to the light… oh well."_

* * *

She shivered when a feeling of coolness washed over her. At her back, her bedmates shivered then curled further under the covers. Irene sat up, mahogany eyes glancing back at her enchanted children before rising. It was unsettling, that coolness… She knew it was from some magical entity, but she wasn't sure what exactly it was.

"My queen?" the sleepy voice had her turning her head, a thick braid going over her shoulder as her eyes focused on the bleary brown eyes and tangled orange locks.

"Sleep, there is nothing to worry about my child… I'll return soon." Irene turned again to leave but stopped when thin fingers grasped gently at her wrist.

"Don't leave us again my queen… mother… please don't leave us." Something in her heart ached at those words, but her harsh conscience squashed it the moment it appeared, walls shooting up to smother the emotions.

"I said I'd return, after all, what would I be without my sun and moon?" She laughed, the sound lacking any sense of humor. If she turned, she would have seen the look of disappointment on the enchanted child's face. She shook her hand free after that, taking quick strides out of the room.

"how could you love the sun and moon when you no longer have your heart?"

Irene didn't hear her.


	7. Scattered

**Scattered**

* * *

It was warm.

She didn't have to open her eyes to know that she was no longer in the mountainous regions of E.N.D's territory, the slightly humid air nice on her skin. Lucy could tell that she was being carried, an arm looped around her back, another under her knees, holding her against someone's chest.

Her eyes cracked open, just enough to allow some light without blinding her. She turned her head towards whoever was carrying her, eyes opening even more when they chuckled, the sound familiar after hearing it since she was small.

"Loke?" the lion spirit purred, and she finally let her eyes open fully.

"yours truly Princess." He gave her his usual smile, and she smiled back, reaching up to his face and flicking his nose. Loke yelped, but thankfully didn't drop her, just giving her a half-hearted glare. "Your initial reaction upon waking up is to punish me? Wow, are you taking torture lessons with Virgo? How un-ladylike of you!" Lucy giggled at his words, all too familiar with his love of being dramatic.

"I don't have to be a lady anymore, kitty." A bird flitted across her vision, and she finally remembered they were travelling, looking out to the land around them.

"we're just an hour from the eastern sea shore, you've been asleep for a while." Lucy gawked when he started, unable to formulate her sentence until he finished.

"I've been asleep for four days?!" she cringed at how her voice raised an octave, but her surprise didn't falter. Now that she was looking, Loke looked particularly tired, his usually pristine suit wrinkled from the long trek. His sleeves were a bit charred, a sign of him overusing his magic. "Loke, put me down."

He didn't respond, hazel eyes focusing on the path before them, obviously fighting the urge to obey.

"loke." Her no nonsense tone had him grudgingly agreeing, setting her gently on the ground, forcing her to sit. Lucy immediately moved to stand, gasping in pain when pain flared up. Looking down at her torso, her amber eyes wide at the sight of two sets of bandages bound around her body, one going right around her stomach, the other stretching from her hip to her ribs. The wounds below each ached painfully, and she cringed as she remembered the fight that had led to them.

"You've healed up pretty well so far, but you're gonna have to be careful for a bit longer, I can't stitch it up, so it'll be easy for them to re-open."

"What happened to the fallen fairy?" Hopefully, he wouldn't be able to follow, but she didn't think she'd dealt any lasting wounds, so there was a good chance that he was still after her.

"When you used your blinding spell, it didn't just mess up his sight, it burned him, bad. He was passed out in a snow drift when I got there. And I don't think he'd have followed us anyways…" his sentence tapered off like he wanted to continue, but he didn't, straightening from his crouched position at her side. He cracked under the blonde's inquisitive stare after a long moment, groaning and throwing her a glare.

"that fairy is a part of one of the Fairy realm's most recent group of criminals… he must have escaped from their prison, he would have no knowledge of who you are Princess." She nodded, slowly bringing herself to her feet, cringing whenever her injuries pulsed with pain. Loke's hands shot out to steady her when she nearly tripped over herself, and she mumbled a quiet thank you.

"Then lets keep going, Hydra's key is close, and when I last spoke with Draco… something is going to happen soon, something bad, and I'm going to need the Zodiac and StarDrops if its as bad as I think." Her eyes drifted to the folded map he pulled from his breast pocket, unfolding it and handing it over.

When Draco had given it to her, it had shown the entire distance she had to travel, from E.N.D's territory all the way to the eastern valleys and coast, but now, it was much more exact, showing trails, roads, rivers and ponds, as well as a small portion of the coast. Now that she thought about it, how had Loke been able to travel that distance, it had looked to be a week-long trek, but here they were.

"Lupus gave us a ride after you passed out, and Aquila took us over a few lakes and valleys, I walked everything else."

"What? Did they really?" he chuckled at her surprised tone, ruffling her hair and earning a pout.

"Stop thinking like that, in your old home, others may not have cared about you, but that's different now. Your spirits would do anything for you Princess."

"I know, it's just easy to forget sometimes… and you know I don't like that nickname…" the look in his eyes told her he wasn't going to stop, so she just shoved playfully at his shoulder with a huff. Looking down at the map, she quickly plotted out their path, which cut through a relatively dense chunk of forest. "c'mon let's go, the sooner I find Hydra's key, the sooner I can get home."

"yea, you're starting to stink a bit."

"I'm going to murder you!" he found that he regretted his words in an instant, crumbling to the ground in a heap.

* * *

E.N.D had disappeared four days ago, and since then, she and Gajeel had found themselves going from village to village, looking for anyone who'd seen the dark fire dragon.

On the third day of their hunt, they'd come across a village that was reduced to ash, the buildings crumbling under the weakest gusts of wind. The area had been unnaturally warm, well past uncomfortable, and they could feel E.N.D's oppressive magic hanging over the scorched land.

Luckily, they had found out that there had been no casualties, and that E.N.D had given an early warning before razing the village.

Now, she and Gajeel were curled up in a clearing in their dragon forms, eyes on the darkening horizon. A few villagers had been kind enough to direct them in the direction that the red scaled dragon had gone, with a warning of the ferocity he had unleashed on their poor village. Wendy just hoped that they would be able to calm him, if only a little bit.

When she and Gajeel were in the village, he'd been tight lipped, arms crossed to better cover the burn marks along his skin. The only sign that he was paying attention and cared was when one older woman had mentioned how she believed that the dragon was most likely going to a city.

"Do you think we'll be able to help E.N.D? losing your mate is one of the worst things that can happen to a dragon…" the words slipped out of her lips before she realized it, her eyes drifting to her nestmate, who nodded his massive, metal head.

"Bunny-girl left at the worst time too, damn Salamander's probably gone into heat by now. Probably why he torched that village. Calming 'im down will be near impossible without Bunny-girl." His scarlet eyes drifted over to Wendy, then back to the horizon, huffing out a puff of air and shifting his body.

He didn't have the time to remove the scales that had melted together, nor the safety required for the metal scales to regenerate, so for now, he was stuck with large sections of metal scales that restricted his movements.

"We won't be able to stop him if he keeps going out of control… we either have to find Lucy, or find some powerful allies." She mused, wings wrapping around her body, warding off the nighttime chill.

"Salamander is probably seeking out the largest source of magic. Bunny-girl didn't leave any trace behind, so a magic source is the next best place… We need to get there before he does, because if she isn't there, then there won't be anything left but ashes."

"Maybe the next village we pass through will have a communication lacrima, if it does, we can contact Titania, she may be able to help." Gajeel gave a hoarse laugh, talons digging deep grooves into the earth.

"We won't have to, Salamander's on a direct course to Magnolia, that's the most magically powerful city in Fiore. Bunny-girl's guild is there too." He shifted again, the sound of metal against metal grating on their ears. "If we're lucky, Titania and the demon slayer may be able to help us hold off Salamander." The sky dragoness nodded, head falling to rest on her folded paws and eyes slipping closed. Gajeel peered down at his young friend, a soft grin twisting his lips. "for now, sleep Squirt, it looks like we're gonna be going full speed tomorrow."

She was already half-asleep, humming out her response. He waited until her breaths deepened, then narrowed his eyes, focused on nothing in particular.

"Why are we stuck cleanin' up your mess Salamander, if you don't get y'ere damn ass in line, I ain't gonna be nice."

* * *

She huffed as they reached yet another fallen tree, her lion spirit already halfway to the top of the massive trunk, dress shoes scuffing up the bark. Following him, because going around would take too long, she hauled herself up, straddling the trunk when she reached the top.

"c'mon Princess, we're real close now." Loke called up to her, waiting patiently for her. Lucy didn't really need him to tell her that, her magic had long since sensed the magic laden key, pulling her towards it like a moth to the flame. Swinging her legs over, she let her body drop, Loke's careful arms catching her before she hit the ground, making sure to keep his hands far from her wounds.

"I know…" the sound of leaves rustling had her cutting off her words, eyes darting to the sound's general direction. Loke shifted to stand in front of her, eyes narrowed dangerously. There was an odd yelp sound after a moment, and the leaves rustled even more. A flash of silver was all the lion spirit needed, taking off like a bullet.

The little thing didn't even stand a chance, captured and lifted from the ground in less than a second. Loke grinned when it tried to wiggle free, padding back over to his key holder, Lucy's inquisitive gaze on the creature.

It was barely the size of a cat, with a narrow head, wide eyes, and a long, twisting body. Its skin was a slightly shiny silvery grey colour. Blunt teeth tried, and failed, to nip and chew at Loke, and eventually, the little thing turned its focus to Lucy. She flinched at the intensity it's pitch black eyes held.

"what is it?" Loke moved it slightly closer to him, noting the fact that the creature kept its gaze locked on Lucy. It was only when he spotted a white design twisting up from its neck to its head that he finally recognized it.

"It's one of the three heads of Hydra… they don't separate too often though…"

"How is it here then, Hydra can't have been contracted…" He hummed his agreement, switching his grip on the spirit so that it was cradled in one arm. Hydra finally peered up at him, nose crinkling in obvious distaste. Loke huffed, glaring at his fellow spirit. "Yeah yeah, I don't like you either. Look, either lead us to the rest of you, or go back to our realm."

The blonde watched the odd interaction before chalking it up to something normal for them, smothering her cackle when Hydra spat a jet of water right in Loke's eyes. He didn't hesitate to throw the little spirit, and Lucy just barely caught Hydra, it's thin body nearly slipping through her fingers.

"Hi there, how about we go find your other heads and get your key?" it felt like Hydra's black eyes were searching through her soul with a fine tooth comb, and after a minute of scanning, seemed to find what they were looking for. Slithering up her arm then down her body, Hydra took off into the brush, silvery skin bright against the greenery. They hastily followed the spirit, a grumble coming from Lucy whenever they had to duck under something.

It took about fifteen minutes before Hydra finally stopped moving, an odd chuffing noise coming from them. A bush rustled not too far away from them, and a writhing mass of slender bodies rolled into sight. The little creatures looked like near prefect copies of the little silvery grey spirit, one with pitch black skin and intense, persian blue eyes, the other a pure white with eyes that were the same shade and colour as a mango, odd enough to say.

They eventually broke apart, seething at each other, completely unaware of their company.

"this is why I hate Hydra… her heads can't get along, ever." To prove his point, the silvery grey spirit pounced in to join its brethren, the trio kicking up a cloud of dust. Lucy balked at the spirits, or spirit, before steeling herself, arms crossing over her ample bosom, pinning Hydra with an unimpressed look.

Under her unwavering gaze, eventually, the fighting stopped, three small heads turning to stare right back at her, turning and blinking in synchronization. Gods, that was creepy. Keeping herself from shivering, she uncrossed her arms, shifting her weight to her right hip. Hydra almost immediately charged her, scaling up her body quickly, claws accidentally digging into her wounds. A wave of pain washed over her, and she nearly dropped to her knees, saved from the fall by her spirit's quick hands. Loke glared at the little spirits that had taken up perches on her shoulders, each of Hydra's heads making confused and apologetic noises.

When the pain eventually ebbed away, she shooed the lion spirit's gentle hands away, smiling warmly at each of Hydra's heads. It took a moment before the black one nuzzled at her cheek, smooth black skin hot against her.

"c'mon, let's get your key."

"How the hell are we supposed to get to it?!" she growled out the words, glaring across the small ravine as if it had wronged her. They had easily found the key, but reaching it was a whole other problem, speared into a rock on the opposite side of the ravine. It would be easy to fly over to the damn thing, that is, if it weren't for the harsh winds that threatened to pull them off their feet. Even Loke had trouble staying down, so she doubted even Aquila would be able to fly across.

Hydra's heads made an odd clicking noise from their places on her shoulders, and she glanced at them out of the corner of her eye. They stared at her as if they wanted to say something, and she watched as they collected themselves on one shoulder, tails twining together. She huffed, turning her focus back to the current obstacle.

Virgo could probably tunnel her to the other side, but a look over the edge convinced her that it wouldn't work, the bottom of the ravine so deep that she couldn't see it. Andromeda could make a bridge of chains, but they'd been thrown off by the wind before they could cross.

"Hey Princess, have you considered all of the options yet?" Loke's teasing voice didn't help her to figure anything out, and she threw him a scathing glare, tempted to chuck him over the edge when he grinned playfully.

"of course I have! You could help me out here!" she growled. The lion spirit laughed unhelpfully, arms folding lazily over his chest.

"I don't have to help you, after all, there is one other option." When his hazel eyes flickered to something over her shoulder, she huffed, following his gaze, only to find herself staring at nothing. Hydra's heads chirped, and she switched her attention to them, three pairs of eyes watching her with interest. Remembering Loke's earlier words, a grin twisted her lips, her gaze darting to Loke.

"you said that Hydra's heads don't separate much, didn't you… that means that Hydra has a different form!" the grin on his face was the only confirmation she needed. Of course, it made total sense. "this must be some sort of trial…"

"you got it Princess. In order to become the master of the water serpent, you must prove yourself. Hydra is the most uncontrollable of the stardrop spirits, so her master must be able to control her in case something goes wrong." She nodded at her spirit's words, smiling gleefully at Hydra.

Her magic reached out, cautious and curious at the same time, zoning in on the slight aura of magic that surrounded Hydra. Teasing at the dormant magic, she nearly lost her footing when Hydra's power suddenly _exploded_ , the calm giving way to something akin to a raging storm. It swallowed her, crashing into her magic and trying to drown it out. She gasped for air, bending at the waist as she pushed against the oppressive magic, fighting to keep herself above the waves.

She could feel her light magic weaken, unable to defend against Hydra's raw unchecked maelstrom of magic. A hand was on her back, but she could barely feel it. When another wave of magic crashed over her, she nearly lost control of her own, the light trying to flee back beneath her skin, a wave of heat washing over her when it rippled and changed.

There was roaring in her ears as dragon flame warmed her, her light burning hot. It clashed with Hydra's storm magic, the balances shifting between the two. Simply using the hybridized magic let her sweating and weak, and Lucy knew that if this continued, it would just leave her to be crushed. Her magic protested as she forced it further out, the heat making quick work of the storm magic.

Hydra's heads made an odd noise, something similar to a whimper, as her magic subdued hers, eager to cocoon around the spirit and contain the violent power. The storm magic crashed against hers vainly, then sunk back into its wielder, trapped within the spirit's body.

Lucy stumbled and went down to her knees, as if she'd been leaning on something and then it had suddenly disappeared.

"Lucy, are you alright?!" Loke's voice filled her ears, and she anchored onto it, taking a second to find her bearings. After a moment, she nodded, tired eyes drifting up to her lion spirit. He was watching her with a fond look on his face, almost brotherly as he hooked an arm under hers and around her back, helping her to her feet. She wobbled, unsteady, and leaned on his shoulder, brushing a lock of hair from her sweaty face.

"d-did I do it?" he blinked at the question then laughed, grin widening at her unamused look.

"of course you did princess! C'mon, we might wanna give Hydra some space." Lucy glanced over at the spirit in response, eyes widening at the sight. A glowing, pale blue light had enveloped the spirit, bodies melding together and growing in size. Loke pulled her a good thirty feet away, and she had to pick her jaw up off the floor as Hydra completed her transformation.

In the place of three serpentine creatures no taller than a foot, there now stood a titanic, bluish grey skinned spirit, almost the same size as Wendy. Hydra's heads were reminiscent of a cobra's, hoods a glittering gold colour on the inside. The head furthest to the left had the orangy-mango coloured eyes, the one on the right had Persian blue, while the middle was a deep shade of black. Pale pink tongues flicked through her lips, tasting the air as the massive spirit rolled her shoulders, the wicked talons on her front paws digging grooves into the stony ground. Her hind legs were thick with muscle, designed for powerful, swift movement, and her tail curled elegantly around her feet, widening about halfway down into a paddle-like shape.

Hydra's gazes were on her, and Lucy shivered under their intensity. She didn't jump away when the heads came close to her, thanks to Loke holding her still, instinctual fear making her nervous. The blue-eyed head was eager to nuzzle up against her, skin cool against her own, and she tentatively reached out, running her fingers down the spirit.

"we've been watching for you, Heartfilia… it is time for us to become contracted once more." Lucy couldn't help but grin at that, enjoying the way that Hydra's voice washed over her, like the calm waves of the beach. She directed her gaze to the key on the chasm, grinning as a thought came to mind.

"This is your magic, isn't it? You're the storm spirit, it'd only make sense that your magic would be the one to defend your key." Hydra nodded, heads swinging to face the ravine. Lucy felt like a giddy child when the storm spirit's right head opened its mouth, taking a deep breath in and sucking up all of the wind magic. Loke ruffled her hair, earning a glare, crouching in front of her.

She quickly clambered onto the spirit's back, laughing when he ran to the edge of the ravine. Lucy heard Hydra laugh when Loke launched them off the ground, landing on the other side, staggering to a stop. The blonde eagerly hopped off his back, ignoring the pain in her wounds and the tiredness in her bones as she went to retrieve the stardrop key.

It slid free of the rock with little effort, glinting in the light. The design was simple, a matte white like the other stardrop keys, the unique design depicting an archaic looking version of Hydra's cobra-like head. On the other side, Hydra let out a roar, the sound akin to rumbling thunder, and she shimmered before fading back to the spirit realm, an approving look in her eyes.

She wasn't really too sure what happened next, but she thinks she fell, no longer able to hold herself up. She didn't really mind though, Loke's voice comforting on her tired ears as he told her to rest.

* * *

His world was red. Well, not really, but he didn't understand how else to put it.

He wasn't completely in control, it was obvious, and it scared him. He hadn't meant to scorch that poor village, he didn't mean to, but he couldn't stop himself. When pain had lanced through him in his sleep, something deep within him had rumbled awake, and dread washed over him. Finding Lucy's room devoid of life, and the letter that she'd left behind, he went into a state of panic, scrambling through the hoard in search of her, despite the fact that he knew she was gone.

When something _dark_ rose up from inside him, he didn't fight when it seized control over him, dread filling him once again when he attacked his nestmate with his rage and sorrow filled flames. Gajeel's melted scales flashed through his mind, he couldn't even begin to imagine how much agony he'd put his nestmate through.

E.N.D felt empty of everything other than fear, sorrow, and rage, praying to whatever god was listening, begging for liberation from whatever darkness was controlling him. He'd already scarred his friend and razed a village, thoughts of what would come next filling his mind.

His head swung to the side, gaze narrowing on the horizon. From where he was, he could see just the tops of a mass of buildings, small streams of smoke billowing up into the sky. E.N.D could sense the magical aura of the city from so far, magic pulsing though the air in soft, almost unnoticeable waves.

' **Burn it all…'** the words were spoken in a grotesque mix of the draconic and demonic languages, it took him a few seconds to decipher them, dread and fear bubbling up within him. He tried to resist, rattling away at whatever trapped him within his mind, vainly battling the darkness that threatened to swallow him.

* * *

She eagerly finished off the last few droplets of her drink, the mug being whisked away by a silver-haired Crismonium the moment it touched the immaculately taken care of bar-top. Her cards were spread out before her, face down, and her purplish-blue gaze swept over them with curiosity. The magic that they held coaxed her towards them, demanding she read their next prophecy. Cana could feel the eyes of her guildmates fall on her as she held out her hands, palms down, over the cards, eyes glowing an eerie white as ancient, long-forgotten words fell from her lips.

The cards quivered as one, then three moved, gliding across the bar top to sit right in-front of her. The remaining cards shuffled themselves into a pile, and her eyes shifted back to normal.

Cana didn't have to turn to know that a few guildmates were peering over her shoulders, Mira watching curiously from her spot behind the bar. She ignored the child-like curiosity coming off everyone in waves, reaching out to flip over the past card.

The Fool reversed stared back at her, almost mockingly, the spirit of the card whispering in her ears.

"Indecision and hesitation… someone wasn't able to act, and it led to a poor decision, one that has affected multiple people…" she laid the card, face up, on the table, then moved onto the present card, nearly flinching at the negative energy that came off it. The Devil card. She'd only drawn it twice before, and it was never a false draw. This time, the card's spirit didn't whisper, voice sharp like shattered glass.

"Downfall and disaster will follow the Fool, and they will face many foes on their path. Their path will cross with the paths of others, and their disaster will become the disaster of all…" as she laid the card down, a vision full of utter darkness washed over her, gleaming red eyes glaring down upon her. Someone behind her spoke, but she didn't hear what they said, already drawing the future card. The Sun card stared up at her, but shared no words, the eyes of the icon watching her, expecting her to know what to do.

"what does that mean?" the brunette looked over her shoulder, eyes falling on the red haired fairy standing behind her. Erza stood with her arms crossed over her armoured chest, hip cocked to the side with her eyes on the cards.

"the future card won't speak… whoever the cards are talking about may not survive the coming disaster…"

* * *

 **A/N: This chapter introduced a new term that's specific to Hoarding Treasures, so I'm gonna be putting the little 'dictionary' in the Authors notes from now on. Most of the terms won't be used till later on, but I'll be putting them down anyways.**

 **Crismonium- Fairy Demon hybrid (mother is a fairy, father is a demon) Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna fall within this category**

 **Caeleste Tetigit- Heaven touched (anyone who was taught to harness any form of heavenly magic) Lucy, Jellal, and three yet to be revealed characters fall within this category**

 **C** **æli** **\- Heaven borne (anyone born with a strong connection to heavenly magic) Lucy and a yet to be revealed character fall within this category**

 **Comonium- Dragon Demon hybrid (mother is a demon, father is a dragon) E.N.D/Natsu and two yet to be revealed characters fall within this category**

 **Raconium- Dragon Demon hybrid (mother is a dragon, father is a demon) Three yet to be revealed characters fall within this category**

 **Defera- Demi-god's child (only one parent can be a demi-god) two characters fall within this category**

 **Cocris- Fairy Dragon hybrid (mother is a dragon, father is a fairy) one yet to be revealed character falls within this category**

 **Resecus- Realm Veil (an ancient spell crafted by a terrorist group of mythics. Designed to override a sealing spell placed on the gate to another realm. Requires multiple sacrifices to operate.)**

 **Lumguinem- Metal Blood (a term used by earth element fairies, metal blooded mythics cannot fly)**

 **Guinetus- Sky blood (a term used by earth element fairies, sky blooded mythics can fly)**

 **Scalis Durum- Hard Scaled (another title of the dragon species)**

 **Cruor Fertur- Blood borne (another title of the demon species)**

 **Vita Beati- Life blessed (another title of the fairy species)**

 **Lapis Meam- Stone soul (another term of the gorgon species)**

 **That's about it for now! The last four terms are from more ancient times, so don't expect them to be referenced much, unless a really old character shows up. In HT, we all know there's more than just dragons, demons, fairies, and gorgons, but I won't get into that right now. I'll do an update for species, terms, lore, and all that good stuff sometime soon though! I'll see you next time!**

 **Okay? Okay.**

 **Bye**


End file.
